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The  New  Science  and  English  Litera' 
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^   .IR   IN   CA.VDIDAC        FOR  THE   DEGREE   OF 
DOi^rOR   OF   PHILOSOPHY 

(DEPABTMKNT    Ox     XNGU8H) 


BY 

CARSON  S.  DUNCAN 
4 


Mi^NASHA,   WIS. 

THE   COLLEGIATE    PRESS 

GEORGE   BANTA    ''UbLISHING    CO. 

1913 


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©i|f  UntoprBtty  of  (fllyiragn 

rOUNDlD  BY  JOHN  D.  ROCKEFKLLER 


The  New  Science  and  English  Literature 
in  the  Classical  Period 


A  DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED   TO  THE   FACULTY  OF  THE   GRADUATE    SCHOOL   OF  ARTS   AND 

LITERATURE  IN  CANDIDACY  FOR  THE   DEGREE   OP 

DOCTOR   OF    PHILOSOPHY 

(DEPARTMENT    OF    ENGLISH) 


BY 

CARSON  S.  DUNCAN 


MENASHA,    WIS. 

THE   COLLEGIATE   PRESS 

GEORGE   BANTA   PUBLISHING   CO. 

1913 


Copyright  1913 

BY 

C.  S.  Duncan 


^C(p/  7-^  ^ 


/» 


/P9// 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I     The  New  Science 1 

II     The  Conflict  op  Old  and  New  Ideas     ....  29 

III  The  New  Science  and  Comedy 66 

IV  The  New  Science  and  Poetry Ill 

V    The  New  Science  and  Prose 147 

VI    Conclusion 178 


CHAPTER  I 

The  New  Science 

The  new  science,  or  the  new  experimental  philosophy,  arose  in 
England  as  a  fresh  intellectual  impulse,  too  subtle  and  too  penetrat- 
ing to  be  readily  confined  within  the  bonds  of  a  definition.  Its 
manifestations  may  be  observed,  its  more  obvious  qualities  may  be 
studied,  yet  back  of  all  these  there  is  an  elusive  psychological  prob- 
lem that  fairly  challenges  solution.  As  the  waters  of  a  stream  are 
lost  in  the  sea,  where  they  are  driven  by  unknown  forces  to  break 
on  unexpected  shores,  so  new  ideas  entering  the  minds  of  men  are 
lost  to  analysis  only  to  reappear  as  ncAv  points  of  view,  new  methods 
of  thinking,  new  attitudes  toward  life.  Straightway  men  possessed 
of  these  new  ideas  set  to  work  reforming  human  thought.  Simi- 
larly, experimental  philosophers  in  seventeenth  century  England, 
quickened  by  this  new  intellectual  impulse,  began  to  lay,  broad  and 
deep,  the  foundations  for  reconstructing  the  natural  history  of  the 
world. 

Scientific  interest  had  existed  in  England  long  before  the  seven- 
teenth century,^  of  course,  and  can  be  called  a  new  interest  in  that 
period  only  in  the  sense  that  it  received  a  new  impetus.  This  new 
impulse  came  from  the  influence  of  four  men,  two  foreigners  and 
two  Englishmen,  Galileo  and  Descartes,  Bacon  and  Harvey.  When 
Galileo  made  his  telescope  and  saw  the  proof  of  the  Copernican 
theory,  there  was  introduced  the  fundamental  new  principle, — 
namely,  the  application  of  mechanical  apparatus  to  the  solution 
of  the  problems  of  natural  philosophy.  ' '  Since  that  Galileo, ' '  wrote 
John  Wallis,  "and  (after  him)  Torricelli,  and  others  have  applied 
Mechanick  Principles  to  the  salving  of  Philosophical  Difficulties; 
Natural  Philosophy  is  well  known  to  have  been  rendered  more  in- 
telligible, and  to  have  made  a  much  greater  progress  in  less  than  a 
hundred  years,  than  before  for  many  ages".^  To  Bacon  is  attrib- 
uted the  inductive  method  for  scientific  research,  although  as  Pro- 

'  Of .  Adamson's  Roger  Bacon;  the  Philosophy  of  Science  in  the  Middle  Ages;  Berthe- 
lot's  Introduction  to  a  Collection  of  Ancient  Treatises  on  Chemistry  and  Alchemy ;  Bridges's 
Introduction  to  Roger  Bacon's  Opus  Ma  jus ;  Bon's  Roger  Bacon;  Charles's  Roger  Bacon 
et  Sa  Tie;  La  Croix's  Science  and  Literature  in  the  Middle  Ages;  Phillips's  Science  in 
England  from  Elizabeth  to  Charles  II ;  Wright's  Science  Written  During  the  Middle  Age*. 

'Wallis,  John,  PhU.  Trans,  vol.  Ill,  p.  264,  Letter  to  the  R.  S. 


2  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

f essor  Adamson  truthfully  says,  "it  is  more  than  probable  that  in 
all  fairness,  when  we  speak  of  the  Baconian  reform  of  science,  we 
should  refer  to  the  forgotten  Monk  of  the  thirteenth  century  rather 
than  to  the  brilliant  and  famous  Chancellor  of  the  seventeenth".^ 
The  new  philosophers  themselves  were  not  familiar  with  the  Work 
of  "Friar  Bacon",  while  they  persistently  praised  and  honored  the 
chancellor,  and  followed  as  well  as  they  could  his  precepts  as  they 
found  them  in  the  Novum  Organum.  They  became  his  disciples 
and  "were  not  sIoav  in  carrying  out  the  plan  of  a  learned  society 
as  sketched  in  the  New  Atlantis".*  To  him  is  due,  then,  the  working 
hypothesis — the  inductive  method — ,wherein  a  long  and  careful 
process  of  experimentation  and  observation  must  precede  the  draw- 
ing of  conclusions. 

The  third  element  was  furnished  by  Descartes.  He  was  a 
mathematician  as  well  as  a  philosopher,  and  hence  could  bring  math- 
ematical accuracy  and  precision  to  the  aid  of  philosophical  thinking. 
His  great  service,  therefore,  lay  in  his  reducing  to  formulae  the 
facts  gleaned  from  experiment  and  observation.  "Monsieur  Des- 
cartes   did  not  perfectly  tread  in  his  (Bacon's)  Steps,  since 

he  was  for  doing  too  great  a  part  of  his  work  in  his  Closet,  con- 
cluding too  soon,  before  he  had  made  Experiments  enough ;  but  then 
to  a  vast  Genius  he  joined  exquisite  Skill  in  Geometry,  and  working 

upon  Intelligible  Principles  and  an  Intelligible  Manner 

obtained  his  results."^  He  also  joined  forces  with  Bacon  against 
the  power  of  ancient  authority.  "Bacon  shares  mth  Descartes 
the  honour  of  inaugurating  the  modern  period  of  philosophy. 
Bacon's  protest  against  the  principle  of  authority,  a  principle 
which  had  been  accepted  with  more  or  less  unhesitating  loyalty  by 
the  Scholastic  philosophers,  is  no  less  vigorous  than  that  of  Des- 
cartes. Both  alike  are  eager  to  substitute  for  faith  and  tradition 
the  independent  effort  of  the  individual  mind  in  pursuit  of  truth. ' '" 

Harvey's  chief  influence  was  due  to  his  achievements.     Trained 

'  Adamson,  R.,  Roger  Bacon,  p.  7. 

*  Becker,   B.   H.,   Scientific  London,  p.  2. 

^  Wotton,   William,   Reflections  upon  Ancient   and  Modern   Learnint/,  p.    30. 

*  "But  one  conclusion  emerges  out  of  these  considerations,  viz.  not,  indeed  that 
arithmetic  and  geometry  are  the  sole  sciences  to  be  studied,  but  only,  that  in  our  search 
for  the  direct  road  towards  truth  we  should  busy  ourselves  with  no  object  about  which 
we  cannot  attain  a  certitude  equal  to  that  of  the  demonstrations  of  arithmetic  and  geom- 
etry".— Descartes,  Phil.  Wks.,  vol.  I,  p.  5. 


THE    NEW    SCIENCE  6 

in  the  new  scientific  methods  under  Fabricius  at  Padua  and  filled 
with  an  enthusiasm  for  discovery,  he  returned  to  England  to  apply 
with  clear-sightedness  and  commonsense  the  new  principles  to 
physiological  research.  The  result  was  that  he  startled  the  learned 
world  and  stimulated  intellectual  curiosity  with  his  discovery  of 
the  circulation  of  the  blood/ 

These  are  the  elements  underlying  the  new  science  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  in  England  in  so  far  as  they  can  be  concretely  de- 
fined. * '  The  period  had  arrived  when  that  experimental  philosophy 
to  which  Bacon  had  held  the  torch,  and  which  had  already  made 
considerable  progress,  especially  in  Italy,  was  finally  established 
on  the  ruins  of  arbitrary  figments  and  partial  inductions".^  But, 
while  the  mind  can  easily  grasp  these  tangible  elements, — the  use 
of  scientific  apparatus  in  solving  philosophical  problems,  the  in- 
ductive method  of  investigation,  and  the  reduction  of  philosophical 
ideas  to  mathematical  formulae — there  still  remains  a  subtle  and 
powerful  force.  The  new  science  was  more  penetrating  than  the 
above  definition  indicates;  it  was  an  attitude  of  mind,  it  was  a 
declaration  of  intellectual  independence.  "Nullius  in  Verda  is  not 
only  the  motto  of  the  Royal  Society,  but  a  received  Principle  among 
all  the  Philosophers  of  the  present  Age."^  Not  only  are  new  dis- 
coveries to  be  made,  new  investigations  to  be  "carried  on,  but  the 
old  beliefs  are  to  be  re-examined.  Aristotle  and  Descartes  are  to 
be  of  exactly  the  same  authority  so  far  as  mere  assertion  is  con- 
cerned.^" No  authority  is  to  be  convincing  because  it  is  ancient; 
no  conclusion  is  to  be  scouted  because  it  is  new.^^ 

This  interest  in  scientific  research  crystallized  into  definitely 
organized  societies.  The  Society  of  Antiquaries  was  formed  at 
London  in  1572  and  continued  into  the  seventeenth  century  until 
dissolved  by  James  I.  A  Royal  Academy  was  attempted  as  early 
as  1616-17,  in  which  it  was  planned  to  devote  some  attention  to 
science.     Sir  Francis  Kynaston  renewed   the   attempt  in   1635.^^ 

'  Announced  1616  ;  published  1628. 

*  Hall  am,  Henry,  Introduction  to  the  Lit.  of  Eur.  vol.  IV,  p.  518.  Of.  also,  Becker, 
B.  H.,  Scientific  London,  p.   1. 

'Wotton,  William,  Reflections,  p.  251. 

"  Wotton,  William,  Reflections,  p.   364. 

"  Ibid. 

^  Elton,  Oliver,  The  Augustan  Ages,  p.  383. 


4  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

But  this  study  is  centralized  in  the  work  and  influence  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  London.  It  did  not  absolutely  lead  the  way,  but  it  had 
a  wholly  independent  development.  There  was  in  Florence  an 
earlier  society,  Accademia  del  Cimento,  with  "provando  e  ripro- 
vando  la  natura"  for  its  motto.  "This  body  was  more  purely 
scientific  in  its  plan  than  the  Royal  Society",  but  it  was  clearly 
an  outgrowth  of  the  same  movement.^'^  In  1666  the  French  Acad- 
emy of  Science  was  founded,  showing  that  scientific  interest  was 
awakened  in  Paris.  Bishop  Sprat  thought,  with  some  show  of 
reason,  that  the  French  imitated  the  English."  The  question  of 
source  is  eliminated  from  the  discussion  of  the  history  of  the  Royal 
Society,  because  it  had  a  definite  English  origin  in  Bacon's  New 
Atlantis}^ 

As  early  as  1645  this  common  interest  in  England  had  drawn  to- 
gether a  group  of  men,  who  had  grown  weary  of  the  political  and 
religious  turmoil  of  the  times.^®  These  men  began  a  series  of 
weekly  meetings  in  the  lecture  room  of  the  Professor  of  Astronomy 
at  Gresham  College.  There  was  at  first  no  definite  organization  or 
plan  of  procedure,  although  by  1651  there  were  rules  printed  in- 
tended for  regulating  the  election  of  members,  (fines  for  "defaults" 
2s.  6d. ) ,  and  even  setting  the  time  of  meetings, — ' '  every  Thursday, 
before  two  of  the  clock"."  This  company  was  called  by  Sir 
Robert  Boyle,  an  early  member,  the  "invisible  College ".^^  Their 
discussions  were  limited  by  agreement  to  the  "New  Philosophy", 
i.  e.  to  a  study  of  things  around  them  in  nature,  what  they  could 
see,  touch,  feel,  or  hear,  "(not  meddling  Avith  Divinity,  Meta- 
physicks,  Moralls,  Politicks,  Grammar,  Rhetoric,  or  Logic)  ".^' 

The  company  slowly  increased.  In  1658  there  were  twelve  mem- 
bers, among  whom  were  Wilkins,  Seth  Ward,  Wallis,  Sir  Robert 
Moray,  and  Boyle.     During  this  year  several  of  the  members  were 

"  Sprat,  Thomas,  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  p.  56. 

^*  It  became  an  era  for  societies.  Cf.  Minerva's  Museum;  eee  alio,  account  of 
"Academy  at  the  great  Tew",  The  Rota,  The  Hartlib  Group,  The  Athenian  Society,  So- 
ciety for  Physicians  and  Surgeons.  Later  branch  societies  sprang  up  in  outlying  towni; 
cf.    Spalding,  Lincolnshire. 

^  Bacon,  Francis,  The  New  Atlantis,  Solomon's  House. 

'"  Ranke,   Leopold  von.  History  o/  England,  vol.  VI,  p.  361. 

"  Weld,  C.  R.,  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  pp.  38-4. 

"Ibid.  p.  38. 

»»  Wallis,  John,  Letter  to  the  Royal  Society,  1696. 


THE   NEW    SCIENCE  O 

called  away  to  Oxford,  whither  they  carried  the  new  interest,  and 
where  they  began  a  similar  series  of  meetings.  In  this  manner  the 
scientific  enthusiasm  continued  through  the  Commonwealth.  In 
1660  the  two  sections  were  united  at  Gresham  College,  and  were 
formed  into  a  definite  organization.  The  number  of  members  in- 
creased during  the  year  to  115.  The  next  year  the  attention  of  the 
new  King  was  called  to  it  by  Elias  Ashmole,  and  the  King  took  an 
immediate  interest  in  it.  Dr.  Johnson  has  suggested  that  his  in- 
terest was  not  wholly  scientific,  but  rather  political.  "It  has  been 
suggested",  he  writes,  "that  the  Royal  Society  was  instituted  soon 
after  the  Restoration,  to  direct  the  attention  from  public  discon- 
tent".-** From  whatever  motive,  Charles  II  did  grant  the  Society  a 
Royal  Charter  and  the  privilege  of  using  the  Royal  Arms,  and  gave 
it  a  silver  mace  which  it  possesses  and  uses  to  this  day.^^  The  or- 
ganization was  completed  August  29, 2-  1662,  at  which  time  the  King 
declared  himself  to  be  the  founder  of  the  Society.  In  this  way 
came  into  being  the  Royal  Society  of  London  for  the  Promotion  of 
the  Natural  Sciences  (Societas  Regalis  Londini  pro  Scientia 
Naturali  Promovenda) ,  which  has  continued  from  that  time  to  this, 
growing  in  power  and  influence.  The  "Invisible  College"  had  be- 
come the  ' '  Visible  Church  of  Philosophy ' '.  ^^ 

Out  of  that  tumultuous  mid-century,  therefore,  came  this  new 
interest,  called  the  New,  or  Experimental  Philosophy.  Its  followers 
were  called  philosophers,  or  more  usually,  virtuosi.  What  was  their 
aim?  In  brief,  it  was  to  realize  if  possible  the  ambition  of  Bacon, 
to  reconstruct  the  natural  history  of  the  world.-*  The  broad  foun- 
dation of  this  stupendous  and  profound  history  was  to  be  laid 
by  means  of  experiments.  Everything  was  to  be  examined  anew, 
and  a  careful  record  was  to  be  kept,  so  that  gradually  but  surely 
there  should  arise  out  of  the  chaos  of  scholastic  discussion  this  new 
understanding ;  this  solid  mass  of  truth  should  grow  into  definition. 
These  scientists  were  to  accept  nothing  simply  from  report  (nwZ- 
litis  in  verba)  ;  there  must  be  demonstration  wherever  possible, 

^°  Johnson,   Samuel,   Works,  vol.  X,  p.  36. 

"  Masson,  David,  Life  of  Milton,  vol.  VI,  p.  395;  Becker,  B.  H.,  Scientific  London, 
Chap.  I. 

"The  Charter  was  dated  April  22,   1662. 

^  Weld,  C.  R.,  History  of  Royal  Society,  p.  73. 

^  Boj  le,  Robert,  Phil.  Trans,  vol.  I-II,  p.  186.  Cf.  also.  Bacon's  plan  for  Book 
VI,  Instatiration  of  the  Sciences. 


6  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

otherwise  the  best  evidence  that  could  be  obtained.  When  it 
is  remembered  that  some  of  these  men  actually  believed  in  witch- 
craft (Glanvil),  sympathetic  powder  (Sir  Kenelm  Digby),  curing 
by  stroking  (Boyle),  and  whatnot  of  superstition,  this  broad  and 
liberal  intellectual  policy  is  remarkable.  The  appeal,  it  will  be 
seen,  was  directly  to  commonsense  and  to  reason,  which  at  first  led 
to  a  general  sceptical  attitude.  "When  a  discussion  arose  regard- 
ing St.  Andrew's  Day  (Nov.  30)  for  celebrating  the  anniversary  of 
their  foundation,  after  St.  George  and  St.  Isidore  (a  canonized 
philosopher)  had  been  suggested  as  more  fitting  patron  saints.  Sir 
William  Petty  said, — 'No,  I  Mould  rather  have  had  it  on  St. 
Thomas's  Day,  for  he  would  not  believe  till  he  had  seen  and  put 
his  hands  into  the  holes  of  the  nails'  ".-^ 

In  order  to  reconstruct  the  natural  history  of  the  world,  their 
aim  was  to  study  nature  as  Bacon  had  advised; — ''The  end  of  our 
foundation  is  the  knowledge  of  causes ".^^  "The  business  and  de- 
sign of  the  Royal  Society  is — 

"To  improve  the  knowledge  of  Naturall  Things,  and  all  useful 
Arts,  Manufactures,  Mechanick  Practices,  Engynes  and  Inventions 
by  Experiments 

"To  attempt  the  recovering  of  such  allowable  Arts  and  In- 
ventions as  are  lost. 

"To  examine  all  Systems,  Theories,  Principles,  Hypotheses, 
Elements,  Histories,  and  Experiments  of  Things,  Naturall  and 
Mechanical,  invented,  recorded,  or  practiced,  by  any  considerable 
author  ancient  or  modern.  In  order  to  a  compiling  of  a  complete 
system  of  solid  philosophy  for  explicating  all  phenomena  produced 
by  Nature  or  Art,  and  recording  a  rational  account  of  the  causes  of 
things.  In  the  meantime  this  Society  will  not  own  any  Hypothesis, 
System,  or  doctrine  of  the  Principles  of  Naturall  Philosophy,  pro- 
posed or  mentioned  by  Philosopher  ancient  or  modern,  nor  the 
explication  of  any  phenomena  whose  recourse  must  be  had  to 
originall  causes  (as  not  being  explicable  by  Heat,  Cold,  Weight, 
Figure,  and  the  like,  as  Effects  produced  thereby)  ;  nor  dogmatical- 
ly define,  nor  fix  axioms  of  scientific  Things,  but  will  question  and 
canvass  all  till  by  mature  debate  and  clear  arguments,  chiefly  such 

'^  Wheatley,  H.  B.,  Samuel  Pepys  and  the  World  he  Lived  In,  p.  123. 

'»  Weld,  C.  R.,  History  of  R.  S.     "Natural  opposed  to  supernatural",  p.  126. 


THE    NEW    SCIENCE  7 

as  are  deduced  from  legitimate  Experiments,  the  Trutli  of  such 
Experiments  be  demonstrated".-^  This  is  certainly  a  most  ambiti- 
ous program  with  which  to  begin,  and  yet  there  is  sometliing  vali- 
ant and  attractive  about  it.  May  one  not  call  this  the  intellectual 
]\Iagna  Charta  of  the  seventeenth  century ! 

This  band  of  philosophers  had  thus  early  set  for  tliemselves  the 
task  of  founding  a  system  of  philosopliy,  not  for  England,  nor  for 
Scotland,  nor  Ireland,  nor  the  Pope,  nor  the  Protestants,  but  for 
mankind.-^  Men  were  admitted  to  membership  "of  different  Re- 
ligions, Countries,  and  Professions  of  Life".  When  Charles  II 
learned  that  a  Tradesman  had  contributed  a  paper  to  the  Society,  he 
sent  a  note  of  congratulation  to  the  members  and  urged  them  to 
admit  as  many  such  men  as  possible.  "On  the  20th  November, 
1663,  the  Royal  Society  consisted  of  131  Fellows,  of  whom  18  were 
Noblemen,  22  Baronets  and  Knights,  47  Esquires,  32  Doctors,  2 
Bachelors  of  Divinity,  2  ]\Iasters  of  Arts,  and  8  Strangers,  or 
Foreign  Members."-^  This  enumeration  has  certain  elements  of 
interest.  A  clear  majority  are  gentlemen  of  leisure,  who  must  de- 
pend upon  an  innate  or  acquired  devotion  to  scientific  research  in 
order  to  save  their  efforts  from  mere  dilettanteism.  Then  a  goodly 
number  are  physicians  whose  work  ought,  at  least,  to  be  of  a  seri- 
ous character.  That  Bachelors  of  Divinity  belong  is  noteworthy 
in  the  light  of  subsequent  charges  of  atheism  levelled  at  the  mem- 
bers of  this  scientific  organization. 

The  early  historian  of  the  Royal  Society,  himself  a  member, 
has  given  an  interesting  description  of  the  ideal  philosopher. 
"First,  he  should  have  the  industry,  activity,  and  Inquisitive 
Humour  of  the  Dutch,  French,  Scotch,  and  English  in  laying  the 
groundwork,  the  heap  of  Experiments.  And  then  he  should  have 
added  the  cold,  and  circumspect,  and  wary  disposition  of  the 
Italians  and  Spaniards,  in  meditating  upon  them,  before  he  fully 
brings  them  into  speculation".'"'  This  is,  of  course,  a  composite 
character  combining  the  chief  qualities  of  all  the  leading  European 
nations  as  then  known.  From  our  standpoint,  with  a  knowledge 
of  the  later  accomplishments  in  science  of  these  peoples,  this  early 

^^  Hooke,  Robert,  MS.  Papers,  quoted  by  Weld,  History  of  R.  S.  p.   146. 
=»  Sprat,  Thomas,  Eist.  of  R.  S.  p.  63. 

^Manuscript  List  of  Felloics  of  Royal  Society; — Brit.  Museum  MSS.  4442. 
**  Sprat,  Thomas,  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  p.  64. 


8  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

analysis  is  interesting.  It  must  be  remembered  that  Englishmen 
were  still  going  to  Italy  for  advanced  scientific  study,  especially 
in  medicine,  after  the  example  set  by  Harvey. 

Bacon  had  held  up  a  high  standard  of  accuracy  in  The  New 
Atlantis; — observe,  experiment,  and  at  last  conclude,  had  been 
his  dictum.  The  ideal  philosopher  was  to  have  industry,  activity, 
and  an  inquisitive  humor,  a  cold,  circumspect  and  wary  disposi- 
tion in  drawing  conclusions.  This  was  the  theory;  what  was  the 
practice?  An  example  of  method  from  the  work  of  one  of  the 
foremost  members  of  the  Society  will  illustrate  it.  Some  observa- 
tions had  been  made  and  reported  to  the  Royal  Society  on  "phos- 
phorescent glow"  arising  from  rotting  wood  and  decaying  vegetable 
and  animal  matter.  Robert  Boyle  grew  interested.  In  a  letter 
dated  February  15,  1672,  he  reports  a  number  of  experiments  car- 
ried on  by  himself.  One  night  when  he  was  retiring,  his  servant 
announced  to  him  a  remarkable  phenomenon  in  the  larder.  Among 
many  pieces  of  meat  hanging  there  was  one,  a  neck  of  veal,  that 
was  luminous.  Boyle,  like  a  true  philosopher,  began  an  investi- 
gation, and,  though  at  the  time  almost  bedfast  from  a  cold  con- 
tracted during  some  recent  atmospheric  experiments,  caused  the 
piece  of  meat  to  be  conveyed  to  his  bedroom.  For  several  hours 
that  night  he  lay  and  watched  it  closely  for  indications  of  varia- 
tions in  brilliancy.  Then  he  put  it  under  a  receiver  and  pumped 
out  the  air; — "whereupon",  he  says,  "the  light  was  well-nigh 
eclipsed".  He  kept  the  bit  of  "lucid  flesh"  in  his  bedroom  during 
several  days,  convenient  for  observation,  and  manifold  were  the 
experiments  performed.  For  instance,  a  servant  was  commanded 
to  run  her  hand  over  the  phosphorescent  surface.  The  hand  was 
found  to  shine,  but  no  heat  was  felt.  "By  great  good  fortune", 
he  declares,  "I  had  a  copy  of  the  Philosophical  Transactions  with 
me.  I  was  able  so  to  apply  that  flexible  paper  to  some  of  the  more 
resplendent  spots  that  I  could  plainly  read  divers  consecutive  let- 
ters of  the  title".  The  writer  then  summarizes  his  observations: 
"(1)  Twenty  places  did  shine.  (2)  The  patches  were  of  varying 
size.  (3)  It  shone  best  where  the  Butcher's  cleaver  passed  through. 
(4)  The  light  was  varying  in  colour.  (5)  There  was  no  heat. 
(6)  There  was  no  stench,  etc " 

No  sooner  had  the  news  of  these  experiments  been  noised  abroad 
than  pieces  of  "lucid  flesh"  began  to  appear  to  many.     One,  J. 


THE    NEW    SCIENCE  9 

Beal,  wrote  to  the  society  May  22,  1676,"  that  he  had  heard  of  "a 
piece  of  fresh  Beef  shining  in  the  Strand".  It  became  a  sensation 
as  remarkable  as  Moses'  burning  bush, — a  seven  days'  wonder. 
These  men  of  the  New  Science  began  to  look  at  such  commonplace 
phenomena  with  the  wondering  eyes  of  children.  Here  is  an  in- 
quisitive humor,  an  industry,  an  activity,  but  one  doubts  the  ex- 
istence of  a  cold,  circumspect  and  wary  disposition. 

The  experiment  cited  above  is  typical.  It  can  be  duplicated 
from  attempts  at  transfusing  blood,  from  observing  thunderstorms, 
from  watching  the  circulation  of  blood  in  the  foot  of  a  frog,  from 
the  trials  of  the  effects  of  rarified  air,  from  almost  any  page  of 
Hooke's  Micrographia.  Always  the  attitude  is  the  same;  wonder 
and  interest,  experiment  and  observation,  then  a  careful  record  and 
report,  with  conclusions.  William  "Wotton,  in  his  defence  of  the 
"Modern  Methods  of  Philosophizing",  writes: — 

"1.  No  arguments  are  received  as  cogent,  no  principles  al- 
lowed as  current,  but  what  in  themselves  are  intelligible. 

2.  The  Forming  of  Sects  and  Parties  as  Followers  of  a  certain 

man  is  discarded.     (Condensed). 

3.  ]\Iathematics  joined  with  Physiology  is  necessary  to  under- 

stand the  economy  of  Nature.     (Condensed). 

4.  The  new  Philosophers,  as  they  are  commonly  called,  avoid 

making  general  Conclusions,  till  they  have  collected  a  great 
number  of  Experiments  or  Observations  upon  the  thing  in 
hand;  and,  as  new  Light  comes  in,  the  old  Hypotheses 
fall  without  Noise  or  Stir."^*^ 
And  he  continued : — ' '  Now  as  this  Method  of  Philosophizing 
laid  down  above  is  right,  so  it  is  easie  to  prove,  that  it  has  been 
carefully  followed  by  Modern  Philosophers.     My  Lord  Bacon  was 
the  first  great  Man  who  took  much  pains  to  convince  the  world  that 
they  had  hitherto  been  in  the  wrong  Path,  and  that  Nature  her- 
self, rather  than  her  Secretaries,  was  to  be  addressed  to  by  those 
who  were  desirous  to  know  much  of  her  Mind.  '"'^ 

Scientific  investigation  had  not  yet  reached  the  point  of  spec- 
ialization. Robert  Boyle,  whose  experiment  was  noted  above,  was 
really  a  Chemist,  but  he  made  investigations  in  Physics,  Astronomy, 

»i  Phil.  Transactions.     Dec.  16,   1672. 

*^  Wotton,   William,  Reflections  upon  Ancient  and  Modern  Learning,   p.   364. 

"Ibid.   p.   370. 


10  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

and  Physiology  as  well,  and  even  contributed  to  the  Philosophical 
Transactions,  February  22,  1675,  an  essay  entitled  "Theological 
Considerations  about  the  Possibility  of  the  Resurrection".  The 
Philosophers  had  not  yet  learned  that  the  whole  province  of  knowl- 
edge was  too  broad.  The  scope  of  their  studies  was,  therefore, 
practically  unbounded.  Dr.  Wallis,  a  charter  member  of  the 
Royal  Society,  wrote  in  1696: — "Our  business  was  (precluding 
matters  of  Theology  and  State  affairs)  to  discourse  and  consider  of 
philosophical  inquiries,  and  such  as  related  thereunto ;  as  Physick, 
Astronomy,  Geometry,  Anatomy,  Navigation,  Staticks,  Magneticks, 
Chymicks,  Mechanics,  and  Natural  Experiments;  with  the  state  of 
these  studies,  and  their  cultivation  at  home  and  abroad.  "We  then 
discoursed  of  the  Circulation  of  the  Blood,  the  valves  in  the 
veins,  the  venae  lactae,  the  lymphatic  vessels,  the  Copemican 
hypothesis,  the  nature  of  comets,  and  new  stars,  the  satellites  of 
Jupiter,  the  oval  shape  (as  it  then  appeared)  of  Saturn,  the  spots 
on  the  sun  and  its  turning  on  its  axis,  the  inequalities  and  seleno- 
graphy of  the  moon,  the  several  phases  of  Venus,  and  Mercury, 
the  improvement  of  telescopes  and  grinding  of  glasses  for  that 
purpose,  the  weight  of  air,  and  the  possibility  or  impossibility  of 
vacuities  and  Nature's  abhorrence  thereof,  the  Torricellian  experi- 
ment in  quicksilver,  the  descent  of  heavy  bodies  and  the  degree  of 
acceleration  therein,  with  divers  other  things  of  like  nature,  some 
of  which  were  then  but  new  discoveries,  and  others  not  so  generally 
known  and  embraced  as  they  now  are;  with  other  things  apper- 
taining to  what  hath  been  called  the  New  Philosophy,  which,  from 
the  time  of  Galileo  at  Florence  and  Sir  Francis  Bacon  (Lord 
Verulam)  in  England,  hath  been  much  cultivated  in  Italy,  France, 
Germany,  and  other  parts  abroad  as  well  as  with  us  in  England".^* 
Some  of  the  new  philosophers,  however,  had  well  defined  in- 
terests to  which  they  devoted  their  best  energies.  Newton,  al- 
though interested  in  theology,  was  a  physicist  and  mathematician; 
Ray  was  a  thoroughgoing  botanist,  as  was  his  intimate  friend  Wil- 
lughby;  Leeuwenhoek,  the  Dutch  scientist,  who  was  so  closely  con- 
nected \rith  the  Royal  Society,  did  his  best  work  in  microscopical 
physiology;  Flamsteed  was  the  Royal  Astronomer  from  1676  to 
1719.     The  day  of  scientific  specialization  was  dawning,  but  had 

•*  Wallis,  John,   Account  of  some  passages  from  his  own  life.     Letter  to  the  Royal 
Society,   1696. 


THE    NEW    SCIENCE  11 

not  yet  fully  come.  In  fact,  everything  was  grist  that  came  to  the 
Royal  Society's  mill.  Tliey  discussed  a  universal  language,^'  the 
power  of  imagination,^^  the  grafting  of  oranges,  lemons  and  cit- 
rons,^^  tlie  teaching  of  Latin,''**  the  best  method  of  catching  carp,^" 
the  means  ''to  facilitate  the  education  of  youth",*"  considerations 
about  the  possibility  of  Resurrection,*^  raising  tobacco,*-  and  the 
philosophy  of  music.*^  The  new  interest  was  practically  universal. 
The  Royal  Society  early  found  need  for  a  permanent  record  of 
its  activities.  It  was  agreed,  therefore,  that  the  secretary  should 
prepare  a  transcript  of  all  papers  read  before  the  Society  and  re- 
view new  books  of  interest  to  science,  and  should  describe  the 
experiments  performed  at  the  meetings.  As  a  consequence  of  this 
action,  Henry  Oldenburg,  the  first  secretary,  an  enthusiastic  and 
self-sacrificing  scientist,  made  ready  for  publication  a  complete 
account  of  the  meetings  from  the  granting  of  the  Royal  Charter 
(1662)  to  the  end  of  the  year,  (March)  1665.  Oldenburg  wrote 
and  published  the  pamphlets  on  his  own  responsibility,  the  Society 
merely  sanctioning  the  action.  "Whereas  'tis  taken  notice  of,  that 
these  Philosophical  Transactions  are  published  by  the  Royal  Society, 
notwithstanding  many  circumstances  to  be  met  with  in  the  already 
published  ones,  that  import  the  contrary;  the  writer  thereof  hath 
thought  fit,  expressly  here  to  declare,  that  that  persuasion,  if  there 
be  such  indeed,  is  a  meer  mistake;  and  that  he,  upon  his  Private 
account  (as  a  well-wisher  to  the  advancement  of  usefull  knowledge 
and  a  Furtherer  thereof  by  such  Communications,  as  he  is  capable 
to  furnish  by  the  Philosophical  Correspondency,  which  he  enter- 
tains, and  hopes  to  enlarge)  hath  begun  and  continues  both  the 
composure  and  publication  thereof."**  It  was  he  who  first  called 
these  tracts  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  by  which  name  they  are 
known  today. 

»  Phil.  Trans.   June  20,  1686. 

»Ibid.  July-Aug.,  1687. 

»^Ibid.  Nov.  11,  1667. 

"Ibid.  June  23,  1773. 

»»  Ibid.  Jan.  25,  1675. 

"Ibid.  Feb.  22,  1675. 

"  Ibid.  May-June,  1702. 

«Ibid.  Mar.  25,  1677. 

«Ibid.  Mar.  25,  1677. 

**Phil.  Trans,   vol.  Ill,  pp.  213-214,  May  7,  1666. 


12  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

In  this  depository  are  to  be  found  a  reprint  or  a  digest  of  the 
papers  read  before  the  Society  at  its  regular  meetings,  letters  re- 
ceived from  foreign  members  or  absent  correspondents,  reviews 
of  books,  and  at  least  one  drawing  to  illustrate  some  important  ar- 
ticle in  each  pamphlet.  There  was  no  attempt  in  the  early  volumes 
to  classify  material.  The  following  table  of  the  contents  of  volume 
one  will  show  the  heterogeneous  character; — ''1.  An  Accompt  of 
the  Improvement  of  Optick  Glasses.  2.  Observations  made  in 
England  on  a  dark  Spot  in  one  of  the  Belts  of  Jupiter.  3.  Exper- 
imental History  of  Cold.  4.  A  Monstrous  Calf.  5.  Lead  Ore 
in  Germany,  used  for  Essays.  6.  Hungarian  Balm.  8.  Pendu- 
lum Watches  at  Sea.  "*^  Here  is  evidence  of  an  interest  in  astron- 
omy, metallurgy,  physics,  and  physiology,  but  there  is  no  systema- 
tization,  no  specialization.  It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  much 
of  the  investigation  is  practical,  or  purports  to  be. 

The  appeal  in  the  new  science  was  primarily  to  curiosity. 
There  arose  a  desire  to  know  the  wonders  of  the  world,  to  pry  into 
causes  of  phenomena,  to  learn  of  the  strange  and  weird.  "The 
bare  prospect  of  this  magnificent  Fabrick  of  the  Universe,  furn- 
ished and  adorned  with  such  strange  variety  of  curious  and  useful 
Creatures,  would  suffice  to  transport  us  both  with  Wonder  and  Joy, 
if  their  Commonnesse  did  not  hinder  their  operations".**'  Run- 
ning through  the  record  of  this  entire  period  is  an  obvious  interest 
in  the  unusual  and  the  marvelous.  May  8, 1665,  there  came  a  letter 
from  Virginia  on  a  method  of  killing  rattlesnakes;  August  16, 
1669,  a  paper  on  the  "darting  of  spiders";  December,  1673,  a  des- 
cription of  "an  odd  lake  in  Crimea";  July  21,  1673,  "the  effect  of 
thunder  on  wheat  and  rye  in  granaries";  an  earthquake  Septem- 
ber 17,  1683;  "A  ruminating  man",  May,  1691;  Waterspouts  in 
the  Mediterranean,  February-May,  1702;  "the  great  frost",  Decem- 
ber, 1709;  the  lunar  eclipse,  February,  1726,  etc.  And  clearly 
these  extraordinary  things  would  catch  the  popular  attention  more 
quickly  than  solid  learning  and  profound  investigation.  The  temp- 
tation would  be  for  the  popular  mind  to  understand  these  things 
to  be  the  chief  business  of  the  virtuosi,  for  it  is  not  easy  for  public 
opinion  to  distinguish  between  curiosity  and  scientific  enthusiasm. 

«Ibid.  March,  1665. 

*•  Boyle,  Robert,   Usefulness  of  Experimental  Natural  Philosophy,  p.  3. 


THE    NEW    SCIENCE  13 

Furthermore,  the  apparent  interest  of  Charles  II  from  the  very 
beginning  gave  social  prestige  to  scientific  experiments,  so  that 
many  fashionable  gentlemen  would  assume  this  virtue,  if  they  had 
it  not.  The  King  had  a  laboratory  equipped  in  Whitehall,  which 
Samuel  Pepys  describes.*^  "It  was  almost  necessary  to  the  char- 
acter of  a  fine  gentleman  to  have  something  to  say  about  air-pumps 
and  telescopes".^®  But  there  is  nothing  here  of  serious  effort  or 
of  untiring  application,  both  of  which  are  essential  to  scientific 
accomplishment.  If  these  things  exist  they  will  be  found  else- 
where. And  so  it  was,  when  the  movement  had  lost  the  first  flush 
of  its  novelty,  wiien  fashionable  society  had  turned  its  attention 
elsewhere,  then  the  real  workers  were  left.  James  II  showed  no 
interest;  nor  did  "William;  Queen  Anne  was  petitioned  for  aid  to 
furnish  the  Society  with  suitable  quarters,  but  she  refused.*^  In 
1713,  however,  she  did  send  word  to  the  Society  that  "ministers 
and  governors  who  go  abroad"  should  make  reports  of  their  ob- 
servations.°°  George  II  was  asked  to  become  a  patron  in  1727 ;  he 
consented,  but  took  no  further  interest.^^ 

From  the  records  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  the  serious  scien- 
tific work  was  done  by  a  few  men.  Several  of  them  were  men  of 
means  and  leisure,  as  Sir  Robert  Boyle,  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  and  Sir 
Kenelm  Digby.  The  reader  of  the  Philosophical  Trmisactions  soon 
grows  familiar  with  the  names  of  Boyle,  Wilkins,  Wallis,  Hooke, 
Ray,  Leeuwenhoek,  Newton,  Sloane,  and  Halley.  And  it  is  to  be 
noted  in  passing  that  the  most  of  these  men  are  yet  famous  for 
scientific  achievement.  They  were  not  dilettantes;  they  were  stu- 
dents by  nature  and  interest.  And,  though  at  times  led  astray 
from  scientific  activity,  they  were  for  the  most  part  faithful,  un- 
tiring, and  assiduous.  From  them  came  the  great  discoveries  of 
the  period. 

Even  although  the  Royal  Society  itself  was  bom  in  college  halls, 
yet  the  universities  were  on  the  whole  conservative  toward  the 
New  Philosophy.  It  was  during  this  period,  however,  that  "Aris- 
totle and  the  Schoolmen  were  to  be  displaced  by  the  influence  of 

*'  Pepys,   Samuel,  Diary  of,  May  30,   1667. 

"Macaulay,  T.  B.,  History  of  England,  vol.   I,  p.   376. 

"Weld,  C.  R.,  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  vol.  I,  p.  388. 

^  Ibid.  vol.  I,  p.  420,  quoted. 

«  Ibid.  vol.  I,  p.  45.  'i 


14  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

Bacon  and  the  discoveries  of  astronomy  and  physical  sciences,  and 
gradually  (in  the  Cambridge  schools)  questions  in  moral  and  natur- 
al philosophy  took  the  place  of  Aristotelian  problems"."  There 
developed  in  the  faculties  "some  jealousy  of  the  Royal  Society, 
and  a  prejudice  against  the  work  it  was  doing.  Dr.  South,  the 
University  Orator,  at  the  Encaenia  in  Oxford  in  1669,  took  occasion 
to  inveigh  against  it  in  his  satirical  vein,  denouncing  its  members 
'as  underminers  of  the  Universities'  ".^^  And  there  was  doubtless 
some  excuse  for  this  attitude,  because  Dr.  Sprat  wrote  in  his  apology 
for  the  Royal  Society, — "I  confess  there  has  not  bin  wanting  some 
forward  Assertors  of  the  New  Philosophy,  who  have  not  us'd  any 
kind  of  Moderation  towards  them;  But  have  presently  concluded, 
that  nothing  can  be  well  done  in  New  Discoveries,  unless  all  the 
Ancient  Arts  be  first  rejected  and  their  Nurseries  abolished".^* 

The  popularity  of  courses  in  science  was  apparently  largely 
dependent  on  the  instructor.  In  1660  Dr.  Barrow,  Professor  of 
Greek  at  Cambridge,  said; — "I  sit  lonesome  as  an  Attic  owl,  who 
has  been  thrust  out  of  the  companionship  of  all  other  birds ;  while 
classes  in  Natural  Science  are  full."^^  Likewise,  at  the  end  of  the 
century  there  was  Richard  Laugh  ton,  "the  popular  pupilmonger", 
whose  classes  were  large;  and  the  famous  blind  mathematician, 
"  Saunderson ",  whose  private  lectures  were  well  attended.^®  On 
the  other  hand,  in  the  Cambridge  classes  in  Chemistry  (1728), 
"there  came  as  many  as  twenty-three  (the  fee  being  a  guinea). 
Only  fourteen  came  to  the  fourth  course  in  1735".^^ 

Inevitably,  however,  the  conflict  of  the  old  and  the  new  systems 
would  occupy  the  minds  of  the  professors  in  the  Universities. 
Learned  men  were  compelled  to  take  sides,  and  especially  the 
scientists.  This  controversial  spirit  was  transferred  to  the  stu- 
dents,— ^if  one  can  accept  the  following  as  a  fairly  representative 
picture  of  the  college  boy;  "And  in  the  first  place  comes  home  the 
young  pert  soph  with  his  atoms  and  his  globuli ;  and  as  full  of  de- 
fiance of  all  country  parsons,  let  them  be  never  so  learned  and 

**  Wordsworth,  0.,  Scholae  Academicae,  p.  65. 

"Ibid.   p.    194. 

•*  Sprat,  Thomas,  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  p.  328. 

•*  Hettner,  Hermann,  Engliache  Literatur,  pp.  16-17,  quoted. 

*«  Wordsworth,   Christopher,  Scholae  Academicae,  pp.   69-70. 

"  Ibid.  p.  189. 


THE   NEW    SCIENCE  15 

prudent,  and  as  confident  and  magisterial,  as  if  he  had  been  Pro- 
locutor at  the  first  Council  of  Nice.  And  he  wonders  very  much 
that  they  will  pretend  to  be  Gownmen,  whereas  he  cannot  see  so 
much  as  Cartes 's  Principles,  nor  Gassendus's  Syntagma,  lying  upon 
the  table ;  and  that  they  are  all  so  sottish  and  stupid  as  not  to  sell 
all  their  Libraries  and  send  presently  away  for  a  whole  wagon  full 
of  New  Philosophy.  'I'll  tell  you.  Sir,'  says  one  of  these  small 
Whiflers,  perhaps,  to  a  grave,  sober,  and  judicious  Divine,  'the 
University  is  strangely  altered  since  you  were  there;  we  are  all 
grown  strangely  inquisitive  and  ingenious.  I  pray.  Sir,  how  went 
the  business  of  I\Iotion  in  your  Days?  We  hold  it  all  now  to  be 
violent, — '  "  and  so  on.  The  "Whippersnapper's"  criticism  of  the 
sermon  is  exquisitely  sketched.  Then  follows  a  slash  at  the  younger 
members  of  Gresliam  College,  who  ask  "to  what  purpose  is  it  to 
preach  to  people,  and  go  about  to  save  them,  without  Telescopes, 
and  a  Glass  for  Fleas  ?"58 

That  the  new  science  was  being  agitated  in  the  universities  is 
clear  enough.  And  the  larger  ideas  were  fast  being  accepted  by 
thinking  men.  "The  study  of  the  New  Philosophy,  and  with  it 
Mathematics  generally,  had  gained  some  ground  at  our  University 

(Cambridge)  when  Sir  "W.  Browne  went  up  there  in  1707 By 

this  time  those  studies  (Principia,  Optics,  Arithmetica  Univers- 
alis) were  extensively  diffused  in  the  university,  and  copies  of  the 
Principia  were  in  such  request  that  in  1710  one  which  was  or- 
iginally published  at  ten  shillings  was  considered  cheap  at  two 
guineas".'^  "From  the  moment  of  their  appearance  (Newton's 
discoveries),  they  rapidly  made  their  way  from  one  class  of  thinkers 
to  another  nearly  as  fast  as  the  nature  of  men's  intellectual  capacity 
allows  ".«° 

The  character  of  the  courses  offered  at  the 'universities  may  be 
determined  from  the  following,  which  is  the  outline  of  a  series  of 
lectures  in  Chemistry:  "An  Encomium  on  Dr.  Friend,  the  first 
who  applied  Newtonian  philosophy  to  Chemistry.  Calcinations. 
Distillation  of  Hartshorn.  Analysis  of  Plants  distilled  in  the 
Great  Alembic.     Distillation  of  Vitriol.     Tincture  of  Myrrh,  Aloes, 

"  Euchard,  John,  Observations  on  the  Inquiry  into  the  Grounds  and  Occasion  of  th« 
Contempt  of  the   Clergy,    1671,   pp.    142,    147. 

*•  Wordsworth,   C,  Scholae  Academicae,  p.   69. 
•"Whewell,  William,  History  of  Ind.  Science,  p.  421. 


16  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

Laudanum,  Steel,  and  Antimony,  and  by  Digestion.  Acids  and 
Alkalis.  Experiments  of  Phosphorus.  A  short  Course  on  the  four 
Elements."" 

The  amount  of  attention  given  to  scientific  studies  during  this 
period  is  shown  by  these  proposed  schedules,  recommended  to  new 
Students  by  Robert  Green,  a  Cambridge  tutor; — "Second  Year; 
Corpuscular  Philosophy,  Arithmetic,  Algebra,  (texts;  Cartes,  Boyle, 
etc.).  Third  Year;  Experimental  Philosophy,  Chemistry  of  Min- 
erals, Plants,  and  Animals  (texts  Boyle,  Phil.  Trans,  etc.).  An- 
atomy, Philosophy  of  Animals,  Plants,  Vegetables,  IMinerals,  Op- 
tics. Fourth  Year;  IMechanical  Philosophy  (texts,  Boyle,  Newton, 
Halley.)  Astronomy  (texts,  Gassendus,  Flamsteed,  Newton,  etc)."®^ 
The  knowledge  of  the  new  Science  was  disseminated  by  four 
I  different  means; — (1)  The  PhilosopJiical  Transactions  were  on  sale 
at  the  bookstalls  in  various  places  in  London,  Cambridge,  Exeter, 
Bristol,  and  perhaps  in  some  towns  in  Ireland  and  Scotland.®^ 
(2)  The  students  at  the  universities  inevitably  came  into  contact 
with  it  in  the  classroom  and  in  private  discussion.  (3)  Popular 
lectures  were  given  by  various  ones  of  the  new  philosophers  in 
London.  "General  diffusion  of  these  opinions  took  place  not  only 
by  books,  but  through  the  labors  of  various  experimental  lecturers, 
like  Desaguliers,  who  removed  from  Oxford  to  London  in  1713; 
where,  he  informs  us,  'he  found  the  Ne"tti:onian  philosophj^  gener- 
ally received  among  persons  of  all  ranks  and  professions,  and  even 
among  the  ladies  by  the  help  of  experiments'.'"'*  (4)  From  time  to 
time  scientific  books  were  published,  when  some  piece  of  work  had 
been  completed;  as  Evelyn's  Silva,  Boyle's  History  of  Cold,  New- 
ton's Principles,  Hooke's  Micrographia,  etc.  The  lay  world,  at 
least  those  who  made  any  pretense  to  learning,  would  very  likely 
know  the  gist  of  what  was  being  done.  It  must,  however,  be  ob- 
served that  the  people  not  directly  connected  with  the  scientific 
activity,  would  not  take  the  time  or  the  pains, — granting  them  the 
ability — to  follow  thoroughly  the  researches  that  were  made,  or 
the  proofs  that  were  given.  As  today,  the  general  conclusions, 
the  unusual  facts,  the  weird,  the  marvelous,  the  monstrous, — these 
attracted  popular  attention. 

8^  Wordsworth,  C,  Scholae  Academicae,  p.   189,  quoted. 
"  Green,  Robert,  A  Scheme  for  Study,  1707. 
"  Trail,   H.  D.,  Social  England,  vol.   IV,  p.   562. 
•*Whewell,   William,  History  of  Inductive  Science,  p.   426. 


TIIE    NEW    SCIENCE  17 

Great  credit  is  given  by  writers  to  this  period  for  scientific 
achievement.  "There  is  no  period  in  the  history  of  mankind  so 
distinguished  by  great  and  important  discoveries  or  so  remarkable 
for  the  development  of  the  human  intellect  as  the  seventeenth  cen- 
^^j.y"6s  "The  age  was  emphatically  an  age  of  Discovery  and 
Invention ".^^  "The  human  intellect  had  reached  the  bounds  of 
the  'Wonderland'  of  Modern  Science".®^  It  is  now  our  task  to 
refute  or  justify  these  assertions.  As  stated  above,  there  was  no  de- 
finite specialization  at  this  time.  The  various  fields  of  science 
were  being  surveyed  and  the  boundaries  were  being  defined.  It  is 
difficult,  therefore,  to  classify  the  achievements.  For  the  sake  of 
convenience  the  following  headings  have  been  made:  1.  Anti- 
quarianism.  2.  Astronomy.  3.  Botany.  4.  Chemistry.  5. 
Geography.  6.  Mathematics.  7.  Physics.  8.  Physiology.  9. 
Mechanical  Inventions.  The  progress  made  during  the  period  will 
be  traced  as  briefly  as  possible. 

Interest  in  Antiquarianism  was  not  a  new  thing  in  1660.  As 
early  as  1572  there  was  a  Society  of  Antiquarians  in  London."^  A 
"collector  of  rarities"  was  the  hero  of  a  comedy  for  the  English 
stage  in  1641.^"  The  first  great  collection  of  note  was  begun  by 
John  Tradescant,  a  traveller,  who  arrived  in  England  about  1600. 
Under  Charles  I  he  was  Keeper  of  the  King's  Garden.  In  1650 
he  died  and  left  to  his  son  the  great  collection  he  had  made.  The 
son  continued  the  work  of  the  father  and  at  his  death  gave  the  col- 
lection to  Elias  Ashmole,  himself  an  antiquarian  and  an  eminent 
virtuoso.  He  in  turn  gave  it  to  Oxford  at  his  death  in  1682, 
"twelve  waggon  loads''.'^" 

The  Royal  Society  also  found  an  interest  in  collecting  rarities. 
It  was  voted  to  pay  ' '  fifty  pounds  to  buy  a  collection  of  rarities  by 
Mr.  Hubbard ".'^^  Then,  in  the  last  years  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury and  the  early  years  of  the  eighteenth,  there  was  aroused  a 
keen  interest  in  the  ancient  Roman  remains  in  certain  parts  of 

'^Ency.    Brit.,   Astronomy,   vol.   21,   p.   220.      15th   Edition. 
"«  Owen,   J.,   Glanvil's  ScepsiH  Scientifica,  Introd.  p.  XXXIX. 
»'  Ibid.  p.  XL. 

^^Ency.  Brit.,  Zoology,  vol.  XXIV,  p.  800.      15th  Ed.     Cf.  Leland's  New  Year's  Gift 
and  Bale's  Index,  and  cf.  Camden,  Selden  and  others. 
'*  Shackerly,  Marmion,  The  Antiquary,  1641. 
™Weld,  C.  R.,  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  pp.  187-8,  64. 
^*  Birch,  Thomas,  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  vol.  II,  p.  64. 


18  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

England.  The  first  report  of  these  investigations  was  received 
by  the  Royal  Society  in  March,  1683,  ^^  in  a  letter  read  by  Martin 
Lister,  who  was  at  the  time  one  of  the  Secretaries,  From  this  time 
on  the  reports  are  frequent.  Many  of  the  gentlemen  of  leisure 
found  entertainment  in  this  search.  From  time  to  time  the  Royal 
Society  received  a  number  of  rarities,  and  kept  them  in  a  room  at 
Gresham  College,  which  Dr.  Seth  Ward  called  the  "Monster  and 
maggot  room".  By  1665  the  Coffee  Houses  had  began  to  adver- 
tise collections.  This  was  the  period  also,  it  must  be  remembered, 
of  an  awakened  interest  in  and  an  eager  search  for  old  and  rare 
manuscripts.  Junius  published  his  Anglo-Saxon  texts  in  1655; 
Thwaites  edited  the  HeptateucJms  in  1698;  Hickes's  Thesaurus  ap- 
peared in  1705 ;  Oldys,  after  years  of  Antiquarian  research,  began 
his  edition  of  the  Harleian  Miscellany,  1744.  These  are  only  indica- 
tions of  a  strong  undercurrent  of  scholastic  antiquarian  interest. 
There  is  an  interesting  account  of  ' '  the  hunt  for  old  books ' '  in  the 
Life  of  Lady  Winchelsea?^  Later,  Gray  and  "Wharton  undertook  a 
history  of  early  English  Literature.  This  spirit  of  renaissance 
scholarship  united  with  the  new  philosophy  and  developed  an  in- 
terest, largely  to  be  sure  for  diversion  and  relaxation,  wholly  apart 
from  "the  bitterness  of  party"  and  the  disputes  of  theology. 

The  impulse  toward  antiquarian  research  was  due  to  curiosity. 
The  work  was  not  thorough,  nor  was  it  really  scientific.  ' '  They  do 
indeed  neglect  no  opportunity  to  bring  all  rare  things  of  remote 
countries  within  the  compass  of  their  knowledge  and  practice. 
But  they  still  acknowledge  their  most  useful  informations  to  arise 
from  common  things,  and  from  diversifying  their  most  ordinary 
operations  upon  them".'^*  Careful  classifications  were  made  by 
some  of  the  curators,  but  except  in  the  case  of  such  men  as  Ralph 
Thoresby,  Llwyd,  and  his  associate,  Dr.  Plot,  antiquarianism  was 
little  more  than  dilettanteism.  The  sum  total  of  the  work  done 
during  this  period  was  to  discover  some  remains  of  Roman  towns 
and  camps,  to  gather  together  curious  odds  and  ends  from  many 
parts  of  the  world — Jamaica,  America,  India,  etc.  The  Royal 
Society  received  an  elephant's  tooth,  a  rattle-snake's  skin,  a  piece 

«PWJ.  Trans.  Feb.  21,  1666. 

"RejTiolds,  Myra,   Wks.  of  Lady  Winchelsea,  Introd.,  pp.  XIV,  XVII.     Of.  Hallam, 
Introd.  to  the  Lit.  of  Eur.,  vol.  IV,  pt.  IV.  Chap.  I,  sec.  2. 
"  Hooke,  Robert,  Micrographia,  p.  24. 


THE    NEW    SCIENCE  19 

of  petrified  wood,  the  horns  of  a  moose,"'  etc.     The  prime  incentive 
here,  it  is  to  be  noted,  is  not  usefulness. 

The  best  scientific  work  of  the  period  was  done  in  Astronomy.^® 
This  is  directly  due  to  the  invention  of  the  telescope  and  apparatus 
for  grinding  lenses.  From  the  earliest  records  of  the  work  of  the 
Royal  Society,  papers  were  read  on  astronomical  observations.'^ 
Comets  were  reported;  new  stars  were  discovered;  the  milky  way 
was  seen  to  be  a  multitude  of  distant  stars ;  eclipses  were  accurate- 
ly predicted.'*  All  scientific  men  were  interested  in  this  work,  so 
that  it  became  fashionable  to  look  at  the  heavens.  Sorbiere  found 
a  public  telescope  when  he  was  in  London.  "Dans  le  pare  le  Roy 
a  fait  dresser  un  grand  mast  pour  des  Telescopes,  avec  lesquels 
]\Ionsieur  de  Chevalier  Robbert  Moray  me  fit  voir  Saturne,  et  les 
Satellites  du  Jupiter",'''' 

It  was  during  this  period  that  the  struggle  between  the  old 
Ptolemaic  theory  of  the  cosmogony  and  the  comparatively  new 
Copernican  theory  came  to  a  final  issue.  The  earth  ceased  to  be 
the  center  of  the  universe,  and,  like  other  visible  planets,  began  to 
move  around  the  sun.  What  caused  them  to  move  ?  What  was  the 
course  of  their  movement?  men  began  to  ask.  The  questions  were 
fully  answered  and  the  answer  was  mathematically  demonstrated 
by  the  greatest  scientist  of  the  period, — Sir  Isaac  Newton.  In  him 
were  combined  all  the  elements  of  the  new  science.  He  used  the 
latest  and  the  most  improved  mechanical  apparatus;  he  tested  his 
own  theories  by  numerous  experiments,  and  urged  others  to  do 
the  same;  he  demonstrated  his  conclusions  by  mathematics.  The 
nobility  of  his  character  and  the  candor  of  his  mind  did  much  to 
dignify  scientific  research,  and  to  impress  his  revolutionary  astron- 
omical ideas  upon  the  minds  of  men. 

The  leading  astronomers  of  this  period  were: — Huygens,  noted 

"•'Phil.  Trans.  July  10,  1683;  Nov.  20,  1683;  Jan.  20,  1684;  April  20,  1684; 
Dec.  20,  1684;  May  20,  1685;  Nov.,  1685;  Nov.-Dec,  1686;  Sept.-Oct.,  1687;  June,  1693; 
May,  1694;  Nov.,  1697;  May,  1698;  Sept.,  1698;  April,  1700;  Sept.-Oct.,  1700;  Feb., 
1701;  Jan.-Feb.,  1702;  Nov.-Dec,  1702;  Feb.,  1705;  Jan.-Mar.,  1706;  Apr.-June,  1711; 
July-Sept.,  1712;  Jan.-Mar.,  1717. 

■"  Lodge,  Oliver  J.,  Pioneers  of  Science,   p.  136. 

""Phil.  Trans.   Mar.,  1665. 

•'«Ibid.,  Apr.  3,  1665;  May  8,  1665;  Mar.  12,  1666;  July  2,  1666;  Aug.  14,  1671; 
Feb.  21,  1675;   Sept.,   1699;   Sept.-Oct.,   1732;  Apr.,   1733;   Oct.,   1742. 

™  Sorbiere,  Relation  D'TJn  Voyage  En  Angleterre,  1669,  p.  32. 


20  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

for  his  discovery  of  the  explanation  of  the  rings  about  Saturn,  his 
pendulum  clock,  and  his  micrometer;  Robert  Hooke,  a  mechanical 
genius,  who  constructed  a  spring  watch,  an  air-pump  for  Boyle, 
and  who  suggested  the  law  of  gravitation;  Flamsteed,  the  Royal 
Astronomer,  whose  chief  w^ork  consisted  in  the  collection  of  data 
about  the  moon;  Halley,  who  experimented  with  the  magic  needle, 
who  brought  to  perfection  the  ''lunar  theory";  Descartes,  with  his 
new  scheme  of  planetary  motion,  by  means  of  ' '  vortices ' ' ;  Newton, 
with  his  law  of  gravitation  demonstrated  and  sustained  against  all 
"adversaries";  Bradley,  with  his  "aberration  of  the  fixed  stars", 
and  his  study  of  the  earth's  motion. 

The  scientific  work  of  the  astronomers  was  of  a  high  character. 
The  whole  tendency  was  to  destroy  the  superstitions  of  astrology, 
although  there  was  even  yet  some  extravagance  in  the  claims  of 
knowledge  about  the  moon.  "Astrology  and  Alchemy",  wrote 
Macaulay,  "had  become  jests "®°  Although  these  pseudo-sciences 
continued  to  flourish,'*^  there  is  not  a  hint  of  the  old  astrological 
beliefs  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions;  there  is  no  investigation 
of  the  subject.  Nor  indeed  could  the  new  science  be  other  than 
an  enemy  of  astrology,  with  its  purpose  so  definitely  stated, — to 
seek  "natural"  causes  as  distinguished  from  supernatural.  The 
contribution  to  astronomy  of  this  period  was  solid  and  substantial, 
and,  while  the  study  may  have  "silenced  the  stars ",^-  it  also  ex- 
panded the  horizon  and  stimulated  the  imagination. 

"All  that  was  known  in  the  sixteenth  and  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century  of  the  phenomena  of  life  in  plants  was  scarce- 
ly more  than  had  been  learned  in  the  earliest  times  of  human 
civilization  from  agriculture,  gardening,  and  other  practical  deal- 
ing with  plants.  It  was  known,  for  instance,  that  the  roots  serve 
to  fix  plants  in  the  soil  and  so  supply  them  with  food ;  that  certain 
kinds  of  manure,  such  as  ashes  and,  under  certain  conditions,  salt, 
strengthen  vegetation;  that  buds  develop  into  shoots;  and  that  the 
blossom  precedes  the  production  of  seeds  and  fruit  ".^^     But  "sys- 

8"  Macaulay,  T.  B.,  History  of  England,  vol.  I,  p.  378. 

81  The  famous  astrologers  were, — William  Lilly,  Evans,  Hart,  Captain  Bubb,  Jeffrey 
Neve,  Dr.  Ardee, — Besant,  Walter,  London  in  the  Time  of  the  Stuarts,  p.  162.  Cf.  also 
Ashmole's  Theatrum  Chymictim. 

^  Elton,    Oliver,   The   Augustan  Age,   p.    270. 

*  Sachs,  Julius  von.  History  of  Botany,  p.  359. 


THE    NEW    SCIENCE  21 

teniatic  botany  was  begun  in  the  last  thirty  years  of  the  seventeenth 
century".**  The  great  names  in  the  study  of  botany  were: — Mori- 
son,  Grew,  Ray,  Willughby,  Leeuwenhoek,  Tournefort,  and  Mal- 
pighi.  Morison  "helped  in  the  discrimination  of  genera  and  got 
an  idea  of  lineal  descent";  Ray  and  Willughby  developed  the 
theory  of  sex  among  plants  and  called  attention  to  striking  analo- 
gies between  plant  life  and  human  life,  their  chief  work,  however, 
being  a  descriptive  classification  of  18,600  plants  (Histona  plan- 
tar urn  Generalis)  ;  Grew  and  Malpighi  used  the  compound  micro- 
scope to  study  the  cellular  structure  of  plants;  Tournefort,  also 
a  systematic  botanist,  was  the  author  of  Institutiones  Rei  Her- 
barias,  "without  a  doubt  the  best  book  to  appear  before  the  time 
of  Linnaeus";*^  a  long  series  of  his  papers  are  given  in  the  Philo- 
sophical Transactions.^^ 

With  the  passing  of  these  men  botanical  science  must  await 
Linnaeus  in  the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  But  the 
accomplishment  during  this  period  was  noteworthy.  The  micro- 
scope had  been  of  great  aid  in  discovering  the  cellular  structure  of 
plants,  in  tracing  the  flow  of  sap,  and  in  classifying  the  species. 
From  1725  to  1740  the  Royal  Society  received  yearly  for  its  re- 
pository fifty  plants  from  the  Chelsea  Gardens.®^ 

"The  true  use  of  Chemistry",  Paracelsus  (1493-1541)  had  said, 
"is  not  to  make  gold,  but  to  prepare  medicine".  This  was  still 
largely  the  belief,  the  popular  conception  of  a  chemist  being  either 
the  "sooty  Chymist",  vainly  seeking  to  transmute  the  baser  metals 
into  gold,  or  the  apothecary.  There  was,  however,  a  new  element 
contributed  by  Sir  Robert  Boyle,  i.  e.,  that  all  chemical  changes 
were  due  to  fire.  Add  to  this  the  Stahl  Phlogiston  theory  (during 
combustion  phlogiston,  the  inflammable  element,  makes  its  escape, 
and  is  the  cause  of  light  and  heat),  and  the  great  contributions  to 
Chemistry  in  this  period  end.  But  there  is  a  new  attitude  in  chemi- 
cal investigation,  as  elsewhere.  The  new  science  tended  to  destroy 
alchemy^^  as  the  new  astronomy  tended  to  destroy  astrology.     Ben 

^  Ibid.  p.  66. 

^  Thomson,  T.,  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  p.  33. 

^Phil  Trans.  Aug.-Sept.,  1674;  Aug.-Sept.,  1675;  June,  1683;  Feb.,  1685;  July- 
Aug.,   1693;   Sept.-Oct.,   1694,  etc. 

«'  Of.   Phil.   Trans.   1725-40. 

^Ency.  Brit.,  Chemistry,  11th  Ed.  Of.  Ashmole's  Theatrum  Chymicum;  Hathaway's 
The  Alchemist,  Introduction. 


22  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

Jonson's  satire  was  no  longer  pertinent  for  the  new  scientists. 
The  Royal  Society  never  sought  for  the  Philosopher's  Stone. 

The  spirit  of  travel  and  exploration  was  active  in  this  period. 
Dampier's  Voyages  is  a  conspicuous  example.  And,  not  only 
did  Sorbiere,  Moncony,  Evremont,  Voltaire,  and  other  foreigners 
visit  England  for  purposes  of  inspection,  but  many  Englishmen 
likewise  returned  the  compliment.  Ray,  Willughby,  Lister,  Thores- 
by  made  journeys  to  the  continent  to  gather  data  for  the  new  na- 
tural history ;  Halley  sailed  to  South  America  to  make  astronomical 
observations;  Sir  Thomas  Browne  made  a  tour  of  discovery  into 
Iceland,  The  later  archaeological  investigations  of  Lord  Montagu 
in  the  far  East  are  well  known.  Connected  with  this  interest  was 
a  desire  to  make  accurate  geography.  The  work  of  the  Sansons  in 
France  is  perhaps  the  most  important.  Helvelius's  map  of  the 
moon,  inspired  of  this  same  spirit,  furnished  a  good  mark  for  the 
satirists.  Related  to  the  geographical  interest  is  the  study  of  the 
structure  of  the  earth  itself.  Geology  had  not  yet  really  begun, 
but  the  work  of  Woodward  is  noteworthy.  He  endeavored  to  ex- 
plain the  presence  of  sea  fossils  found  far  inland  on  the  basis  of 
Burnet's  Sacred  Theory. ^^  At  the  time  of  the  deluge,  he  claimed, 
the  waters  pent  up  within  the  crust  of  the  earth  burst  their  bounds, 
and  when  the  various  substances  again  settled  to  the  layer  where 
their  varying  weights  carried  them,  these  fossils  were  thus  dis- 
placed. The  explanation  was  ingenious  but  not  convincing  even 
to  his  contemporaries.""  It  may  now  be  seen,  however,  that  Wood- 
ward narrowly  missed  discovering  the  strata  of  the  earth's  crust, 
the  great  achievement  of  the  following  years. 

In  mathematics  there  was  great  activity  through  these  years. 
As  has  been  shown,  Descartes  brought  this  pure  science  to  the  aid  of 
philosophical  problems,  making  it  the  handmaid  of  astronomy  and 
physics.  There  could,  however,  be  little  to  attract  the  popular  mind 
developed  from  its  study.  There  was  a  dispute  that  lasted  for 
several  years  between  Descartes,  Hobbes,  Wallis,  and  others,  over  the 
possibility  of  squaring  the  circle;  and  Newton  and  Leibnitz  quar- 
reled over  their  respective  claims  to  priority  in  the  invention  of 

^  Cf.  Woodward's  Account  of  the  Deluge. 

■^  Cf.  Arbuthnot's  An  Examination  of  Woodward's  Account  of  the  Deluge,  Wks., 
vol.   II,  p.    196. 


THE    NEW    SCIENCE  23 

differential  calculus.®^  The  great  names  in  mathematics  were: — 
Descartes,  Wallis,  Wilkins,  Isaac  Barrow,  and  Newton.  There  is 
no  great  service  that  it  performed  alone,  but  it  entered  vitally  into 
the  new  study  of  astronomy,  physics,  and  scientific  calculations 
generally. 

The  study  of  physics  was  pursued  with  great  vigor,  and  the 
accomplishments  were  noteworthy.  There  were  experiments  made 
of  falling  bodies,  of  heat,  light,  cold,  color,  of  atmospheric  weight, 
of  elasticity  of  air,  of  magnetism,  and,  growing  more  frequent  in 
the  last  years  of  the  period,  of  electricity.^-  The  great  names  in 
this  science  were; — Descartes,  Boyle,  and  Newton.  Descartes  de- 
veloped his  ' '  vortex  theory ' '  of  motion ;  Boyle  discovered  the  law 
of  the  compressibility  of  air  that  bears  his  name ;  Newton,  by  means 
of  mathematical  demonstration,  established  the  law  of  gravitation, 
and  explained  the  phenomenon  of  prismatic  colors.  There  was, 
furthermore,  considerable  interest  in  navigation ;  Charles  II  per- 
formed some  experiments  in  this  branch  of  science  in  his  laboratory 
at  Whitehall.^^  This  interest  lead  to  experiments  with  the  com- 
pass, and  hence  with  magnetism.  "The  greatest  Modern  Inven- 
tions seem  to  be,"  said  Sir  William  Temple  in  defense  of  ancient 
learning,  "those  of  the  Load-Stone  and  Gun-powder".®*  And  then 
Hauksbee  began  in  1705  a  series  of  interesting  electrical  experi- 
ments which  culminated  in  the  work  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  whose 
letters  were  received  by  the  Royal  Society  in  1746.  The  period  is 
clearly  fruitful  in  discoveries  and  the  tendency  is  towards  things 
of  practical  use. 

The  study  of  living  bodies  was  greatly  stimulated  by  Harvey's 
discovery  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  and  was  augmented  by 
the  invention  of  the  microscope.  "By  means  of  the  Telescopes, 
there  is  nothing  so  far  distant  but  may  be  represented  to  our  view ; 
and  by  help  of  the  Microscopes,  there  is  nothing  so  small,  as  to 
escape  our  inquiry;  hence  there  is  a  new  visible  world  discovered 

^^  Phil.  Trans.  Mar.  16,  1668;  Apr.  13,  1668;  Feb.  5,  1669;  June  21,  1669.  Of. 
Arbuthnot's  Advantages  of  Mathematical  Studies  and   Berkelej-'s  New  Arithmetic. 

"^Phil.  Trans.  Mar.  6,  1665;  Nov.  15,  1669;  June  17,  1672;  July  15,  1672;  Nov. 
8,  1672;  Feb.  28.  1673;  Jan.  24,  1676;  Jan. -Feb.,  1707;  May-June,  1708;  Oct.-Dec, 
1714;  Nov.-Dec,  1732;  April-June,  1736;  July-Oct.,  1739;  Jan.-Feb.,  1741;  Jan. -Feb., 
1742. 

w  Pepys,  Samuel,  Diary,  1665,  Jan.  15,  1668-9. 

**  Temple,   Sir  William,   Miscellanea,   pt.   I,   Some  Reflections,   etc. 


24  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

to  the  understanding ".^^  This  was  the  period  of  the  beginning  of 
histology  and  anatomy,  with  the  descriptions  of  bone  structure,  of 
blood  composition,  of  valves  in  the  veins,  etc.  There  were  experi- 
ments in  respiration,  in  the  structure  of  the  skin,  and  particularly 
with  medicinal  plants.®"  "A  garden  of  medical  plants  was  created 
by  the  Company  of  Apothecaries  as  early  as  1673,  and  it  was  greatly 
improved  in  the  early  years  of  the  18th  century,  chiefly  through 
the  influence  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane".®^  It  is  claimed  that  Leeu- 
wenhoek  really  discovered  the  existence  of  bacteria  by  means  of 
his  microscopes.®® 

Many  of  the  members  of  the  Royal  Society  were  physicians, 
who  willingly  accepted  "the  new  Method  of  Philosophizing". 
Their  interest  concentrated  all  biological  investigations  upon  their 
relationship  to  medical  practice.  This,  however,  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  greatly  improved.  ' '  Medical  science  had  been  somewhat 
improved,  but  the  practice  of  lowering  the  constitution  by  exces- 
sive bleedings  was  so  general  that  it  may  be  questioned  on  the  whole 
whether  it  did  not  kill  more  than  it  cured".®®  Surgery,  which  was 
differentiated  from  the  practice  of  medicine,  was  not  changed  ap- 
preciably by  the  new  science.  It  continued  cruel  and  crude  until 
the  discovery  of  anaesthetics.  Perhaps  the  most  striking  single 
thing  in  medical  science  during  this  period  was  the  introduction 
of  inoculation  against  small-pox,  in  which  Lady  Mary  "Wortley 
Montague  took  such  an  important  part. 

Medical  superstitions  still  persisted  through  this  period.  Sir 
Kenelm  Digby,  a  charter  member  of  the  Royal  Society,  believed 
in  the  power  of  sympathetic  powder ;"°  Robert  Boyle  defended  the 
mysterious  power  of  "Amulets,  or  other  external  Remedies" ;^°^ 
Richard  Wisemann,  Surgeon-General  to  Charles  II,  assisted  at 
cures  of  scrofula  by  royal  touch. ^*'-  Elias  Ashmole  was  an  adept  • 
in  Rosicrucian  mysteries.     It  was  the  period  of  the  famous  Great-  * 

^  Hooke,  Robert,  Micrographia,  Preface,  p.  9,   1665. 

»»  Lecky,  W.  E.  H.,  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  vol.   I,  pp.   621-2. 

^  Ibid.  vol.  I,  p.  622. 

»'P/uJ.   Trans.   1675. 

"*  Lecky,  W.  E.  H.,  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  vol.  I,  p.  621. 

^"^  Phil.  Trans.  April-June,   1714. 

""  Boyle,    Robert,    Usefulness   of  Natural  Experimental   Knowledge,   p.    238. 

"»  Trail,  H.  D.,  Social  England,  vol.  VI,  p.  46. 


THE    NEW    SCIENCE  25 

orix.  "Boyle,  Henry  ]\Iore,  Meric  Casaubon,  Baxter,  Cudworth 
all  believed  fully  in  witchcraft"/**^  But  even  then  all  tliese  be- 
liefs were  considered  vagaries.  The  influence  of  the  new  science 
was  consistently  and  strongly  to  destroy  all  such  untenable  and 
undemonstrable  theories.  The  quack  doctor  still  continued  to  exist 
and  no  doubt  to  flourish,  but  he  was  neither  created  nor  nutured 
by  the  new  philosopliy.  AVhat,  indeed,  could  be  more  fatal  to 
medical  chicanery  than  the  requirement  to  explain  by  natural 
causes  the  origin  of  diseases  and  their  cures?  In  medicine,  as  in 
Chemistry  and  Astronomy,  false  doctrines  were  being  broken  down. 
What  had  been  a  secret  and  magical  art  was  fast  becoming  an  open 
and  sensible  science.  The  most  famous  physician  among  the  new 
philosophers  and  the  great  exponent  of  commonsense  in  medical 
practice  undoubtedly  was  Sydenham. 

IMechanical  inventions  were  always  included  within  the  realm 
of  scientiflc  investigation.  There  were  two  reasons  for  this;  first, 
because  these  inventions  were  for  the  most  part  laboratory  appara- 
tus or  the  direct  result  of  laboratory  experiments ;  second,  because 
the  Royal  Society  had  specifically  declared  its  intention  "to  im- 
prove all  useful  Arts,  IManufactures,  Mechanick  Practices,  Engynes 
and  Inventions  by  Experiments".^'^*  They  were  satirically  known 
as  "Physico-Mechanical  Inventions  ".^°^  The  list  is  not  an  un- 
worthy one;  indeed,  surprises  one  in  its  extent.  To  this  period 
should  be  attributed  the  improved  telescopes  for  the  new  methods 
of  grinding  glasses  revolutionized  this  invention.  The  microscope 
belongs  here  for  the  same  reason ;  the  Torricellian  barometer  was 
at  this  time  first  understood  and  used;  a  primitive  thermometer 
came  out  of  the  experiments  with  mercury ;  the  compass  was  im- 
proved; the  pendulum  clock  was  made  so  as  to  avoid  variations  on 
the  sea ;  the  spring  clock  was  invented ;  a  magic  lantern  of  a  crude 
sort  was  made ;  the  air-pump  was  contrived  by  Robert  Hooke  under 
the  direction  of  Boyle ;  asbestos  was  manufactured ;  and  a  weaving 
loom  was  constructed.^"®    Both  Wilkins  and  Hooke  thought  they 

103  Owen,   J.,   Glanvil's  Scepsis  Scientiftca,   Introd.,  p.   XLIV. 

^°*  Supra,  p.  6. 

'"=  Shadwell,   Thomas,   The   Tirtuoso,   Act.   I.   sc.    1. 

^oo  Phil  Trans.  Mar.  6,  1665:  June  5,  1665  (M.  Auzout,  On  Telescopes);  Feb.  12, 
1666  (Barometer);  Oct.,  1798  (Magic  Lanthorn);  March  11,  1666  (rarifying  engyn)  ; 
also,  Nov.  22,  1675;  Dec.  27,  1675;  Feb.  21,  1676;  Aug.-July,  1678.  Savery's  steam 
engine  doubtless  belongs  here   in   the  list    (1698). 


26  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

had  a  method  that  could  be  made  practicable  by  which  men  could 
fiiy.  Besides  all  these  there  must  have  been  scores  of  abortive  at- 
tempts. Lord  Worcester's  A  Century  of  Inventions  contains 
hundreds  of  wild-eyed  schemes  for  doing  useful  and  extraordinary 
things  by  mechanical  contrivances. 

From  the  foregoing  facts  it  is  clear  that  the  new  philosophers 
were  sincere  in  their  stated  purpose  to  be  practical  and  to  make 
their  knowledge  useful.  This  learned  group  of  men  did  not  con- 
sider it  beneath  their  dignity  to  give  up  a  meeting  to  the  discus- 
sion of  a  new  kind  of  "bee-house""^  or  to  a  consideration  of  new 
agricultural  implements.^°^  Sir  Robert  Moray  devoted  one  entire 
letter  to  the  Royal  Society  from  Hungary  to  the  description  of  a 
new  kind  of  airshaft  for  ventilating  mines.^°''  There  was  a  drawing 
of  a  proposed  speaking  trumpet  given  Sept.-Nov.  1678.  An  article 
found  a  place  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  on  preserving  ice 
and  snow  by  covering  them  with  chaff.  In  the  copy  for  March  25, 
1669,  on  an  equal  basis  with  a  new  instrument  for  drawing  an 
object  in  perspective,  observations  of  Saturn,  and  a  paper  by 
Lower  on  the  motion  of  the  heart,  is  a  letter  from  France  on  melons, 
the  best  varieties  and  how  to  raise  them.  Certainly  the  new  phil- 
osophers did  not  despise  the  day  of  small  things,  and  certainly  they 
desired  to  be  practical,  and  however  many  of  them  were  drawn 
aside,  and  however  far,  into  wild  vagaries  and  the  following  of 
false  lights,  the  sum  total  of  their  efforts  is  a  noble  achievement. 

The  movement  has  been  defined,  and  its  progress  has  been  traced 
through  the  period,  with  some  account  of  the  activity  in  the  vari- 
ous fields  of  interest.  A  general  survey,  therefore,  should  show 
the  scientific  ideas  revealed  to  the  world  by  this  company  of  ex- 
perimenters. They  preached,  in  the  first  place,  a  new  scientific 
attitude  of  mind  that  was  fundamental  and  far-reaching,  and  that 
would  affect  the  mode  of  thinking  of  all  men  who  came  in  contact 
with  it.  It  was  an  insistence  upon  absolute  intelligibility  in  phil- 
osophical discussions, — a  "working  upon  Intelligible  Principles  in 
an  Intelligible  Manner".  The  first  element  of  Descartes 's  method 
"was  to  accept  nothing  as  true  which  I  did  not  clearly  recognize 

-    i^Ibid.  July  21,  1693. 

"•Ibid.  July  3,   1665;  July  13,   1668. 
>•»  Ibid.  July  3,  1665. 


THE    NEW    SCIENCE  27 

to  be  so".  "No  arguments  are  received  as  cogent,  no  principles 
allowed  as  current,  but  what  in  themselves  are  intelligible".""* 
The  point  can  hardly  be  over-emphasized,  for  the  influence  of  this 
insistence  is  pervasive.  It  is  a  demand  for  commonsense  and 
reasonableness  in  all  thinking.  This  is  the  attempt  "to  get  a 
true  relation  between  form  and  substance","^  as  found  in  English 
prose  style  of  the  time.  And  not  only  is  intelligibility  insisted  up- 
on, but  carefulness  also.  There  must  be  an  accumulation  of  data, 
a  course  of  experiments,  a  period  of  preliminary  thinking,  an  avoid- 
ance of  snap-judgments  and  broad  generalizations.  Finally,  this 
is  the  period  of  practical  knowledge;  learning  must  tend  to  some 
useful  purpose  if  it  is  to  be  worth  while. 

Out  of  the  scientific  activity  came  certain  new  ideas  affecting 
man's  conception  of  the  physical  world.  Newton  wrote  in  his 
System  of  the  World  (1689)  a  new  description  of  the  heavens  and 
the  earth,  showing  the  position  and  the  motion  of  the  planets,  and 
their  relation  to  the  sun,  and  gave  a  new  conception  of  the  in- 
finity of  space.  He  also  explained  the  phenomena  of  colors  and  an- 
alyzed the  rays  of  light.  The  air  was  found  to  be  a  substance,  with 
weight,  compressible,  expansive,  a  thing  of  interest,  comprehensible. 
The  microscope  revealed  a  new  world  of  minutiae,  and  raised  to  a 
plane  of  dignity  in  the  minds  of  the  scientists,  the  meanest  crea- 
tures. Even  the  least  were  found  to  be  fearfully  and  wonderfully 
made.  The  structure  of  objects  generally  was  studied, — the  bark, 
the  fruit,  the  sap  of  plants.  Then  came  the  larger  idea  that  they 
belonged  in  great  families.  The  telescope,  likewise,  stimulated  the 
imagination  by  extending  the  horizon,  by  discovering  countless 
multitudes  of  stars  in  the  "infinite  meadows  of  the  heavens"; 
while  mathematics  demonstrated  the  order  and  beauty  of  their  mo- 
tions. Comets  lost  their  mystery,  eclipses  were  explained,  seleno- 
graphy was  written,  the  sunspots  observed.  In  a  new  sense  the 
"heavens  were  declaring  the  glory  of  God  and  the  firmament 
showing  His  handiwork".     "With  this  expanding  horizon  came  a 

"0  Wotton,    supra,   p.    12. 

"1  Elton,    Oliver,   The   Augustan   Ages,   p.   420. 

*  That  an  idea  should  become  intelligible  to  the  New  Philosophers  it  must  "have  in 
some  sense  a  Mechanical  Conception."  Oldenburg,  Henry,  Phil.  Trans,  vol.  XVII, 
Preface. 


28  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

sense  of  man's  insignificance;  but  the  human  body  received  its  at- 
tention. The  course  of  the  blood  was  traced  completely  when  the 
'  microscope  discovered  the  capillaries.  The  structure  of  the  eye, 
of  the  sMn,  of  the  bones,  was  investigated,  and  the  function  of  the 
lungs  in  respiration.  Some  conception  was  gained  of  the  existence 
of  ether,  of  oxygen,  of  the  wonderful  power  of  .magnetism  and 
electricity.  There  was  a  crude  effort  to  apply  the  force  of  steam 
to  mechanical  uses.  Some  notion  of  past  races  was  secured  from 
their  remains,  though  sought  largely  through  curiosity.  And  final- 
ly, through  the  system  of  correspondence  established  by  the  Royal 
Society,  a  feeling  of  unity  of  interest  drew  the  nations  of  Europe 
nearer  together.  "It  was  not  till  now  that  the  notion  of  'Europe, 
as  for  intellectual  purposes,  one  great  confederation',  could  be  said 
to  glimmer  before  the  modern  mind"."- 

"2  Elton,  Oliver,  The  Augustan  Ages,  p.  420. 


*      CHAPTER  II 

The  Conflict  of  Old  and  New  Ideas 
The  new  philosophy,  as  an  intellectual  impulse,  entered  all  aven- 
ues of  thought,  but  not  without  opposition.  It  was  challenged  in 
turn  by  prejudice,  inherited  belief,  and  accepted  authority.  Bacon 
had  early  bid  defiance  to  the  scholastic  authority;  "the  real  begin- 
ning of  English  philosophy  is  to  be  dated  from  Bacon's  break  with 
scholasticism".^  But  to  carry  on  the  struggle  to  certain  victory 
was  left  to  his  disciples.  The  second  step  was  for  the  new  science  > 
to  free  itself  from  the  domination  of  theology,  "to  assert  the  free-  ., 
dom  of  the  scientific  intellect".  This  was  done  by  the  valiant 
little  group  of  men  at  Gresham  College,  who  formed  the  nucleus 
of  the  Royal  Society.  They  pledged  themselves  to  avoid  the  prob- 
lems of  "Divinity,  Metaphysicks,  Moralls,  Politicks,  Grammar, 
Rhetoric,  and  Logic";-  tliey  "set  themselves  to  read  in  the  Great 
Book  of  Nature,  to  walk  in  its  Garden  and  taste  its  plenty,  in- 
stead of  idle  talking  and  wandering. ' ' 

With  their  field  of  inquiry  thus  bounded  and  with  their  ' '  reason 
free  and  unpossest",  the  new  philosophers  were  ready  to  search  for 
the  truth  by  means  of  experiment  and  observation,  and  to  lay  the 
broad  foundations  for  the  new^  natural  history  of  the  world.  The 
reward  of  their  effort  w^as  almost  instantaneous;  flushed  with  the 
triumph  of  discovery,  they  entered  the  "wonderland  of  modern 
science"  as  revealed  by  the  telescope  and  the  microscope.  And  they 
naively  expressed  their  hope  that  "as  new  Light  comes  in,  the  old 
Hypotheses  will  fall  without  noise  ".^  But  this  was,  of  course, 
psychologically  impossible,  for  old  hypotheses,  especially  those 
which  concern  personal  faith,  do  not  yield  in  silence.  "The  grad- 
ual ebbing  of  an  ancient  faith  leaves  a  painful  discord  between 
the  imagination  and  reason.  The  idols  gradually  lose  their  sanc- 
tity; but  they  are  cherished  by  poets  long  after  they  are  disowned 
by  philosophers,  and  the  poet  has  the  greatest  immediate  influence 
with  the  many."*     It  is  this  "painful  discord"  in  the  period  of 

*  Seth,  James,  English  Philosophers  and  Schools  of  Philosophy,  p.   10. 
'  Wallis,  John,  Account  of  Some  Passages  in  my  Life,   1696. 

» Wotton,    William,   Reflections,   p.    364. 

*  Stephens,  Leslie,  History  of  English  Thought,  vol.  I,  p.   16. 


30  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

transition,  this  effort  of  the  mind  to  measure  itself  with  a  new  rule 
of  reason  and  commonsense,  this  struggle  of  the  imagination  to 
adjust  itself  to  new  imagery,  which  forms  the  subject  of  this  chap- 
ter. Those  men  of  literary  genius  who  were  brought  into  intimate 
contact  with  the  new  philosophy  in  its  full  encounter  with  the  tra- 
ditions of  ancient  faith  will  here  be  discussed. 

The  transition  from  the  old  to  the  new  attitude  is  well  illus- 
trated in  the  writings  of  Sir  Thomas  Browne.  The  Religio  JMedici 
(1635-6)  was  written  under  the  domination  of  the  "ancient  faith" 
There  is  found  in  it  a  frank  avowal  of  the  old  spirit  of  acceptance, 
the  attitude  of  non-reason  against  which  the  new  philosophers  re- 
volted. "I  believe  all  this  (divine  mysteries)  is  true,  which  indeed 
my  reason  would  persuade  me  to  be  false;  and  this  I  think  is  no 
vulgar  part  of  Faith,  to  believe  a  thing  not  only  above,  but  con- 
trary to  reason,  and  against  the  arguments  of  our  proper  senses".^ 
Besides  this  quiescence  of  reason  in  The  Religio  Medici  there  is 
also  the  old  physical  conception  of  the  world.  "To  make  a  revo- 
lution every  day  is  the  nature  of  the  sun,  because  of  that  neces- 
sary course  which  God  ordained  it,  from  which  it  cannot  swerve 
but  by  a  faculty  from  that  same  voice  which  did  first  give  it  mo- 
tion".'' Astrology,  although  curiously  modified,  also  finds  expression 
here.  "We  need  not  labor  with  so  many  arguments  to  confute 
Judicial  Astrology;  for  if  there  be  a  truth  therein,  it  doth  not 
injure  Divinity;  if  to  be  born  under  Mercury  disposeth  us  to  be 
witty;  under  Jupiter  to  be  wealthy;  I  do  not  owe  a  Knee  unto 
those,  but  unto  that  Merciful  Hand  that  hath  ordered  my  indif- 
ferent and  uncertain  Nativity  unto  such  benevolous  Aspects".'' 
Many  of  the  old  beliefs  are  here  in  more  or  less  direct  form.  ' '  For 
my  part,  I  have  ever  believed,  and  do  now  know,  that  there  are 
Witches".^  "I  conceive  there  is  a  traditional  Magick,  not  learned 
immediately  from  the  Devil,  but  at  second  hand  from  his  Schol- 
ars".^ "Therefore,  for  Spirits,  I  am  so  far  from  denying  their 
existence,  that  I  could  easily  believe,  that  not  only  whole  countries, 

'  Browne,   Sir  Thomas,  Religio  Medici,  vol.  I,  p.   18. 
"Ibid.  vol.   I,  p.   25. 
7  Ibid.  vol.  I,  p.   30. 
'Ibid.  vol.  I,  p.  45. 
•Ibid.  vol.  I,  p.  46. 


THE   CONFLICT   OF   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  31 

but  particular  persons,  have  their  tutelary  or  Guardian  Anj^els".^° 
Nor  had  the  stars  yet  been  silenced  for  him :  ' '  For  there  is  a 
Musick  wherever  there  is  harmony,  order,  or  proportion ;  and  thus 
far  we  may  maintain  the  Musick  of  the  Spheres  ".^^  This  frank 
adherence  to  the  old  doctrines  is  given,  although  the  new  ideas 
were  not  unknown  to  him.  While  Browne  writes  in  the  terms  of 
the  old  astrology,  for  instance,  the  new  astronomy  is  familiar  to 
him.  "I  conclude,  therefore,  and  say,  there  is  no  happiness  under, 
or  (as  Copernicus  WILL  have  it,  above)  the  sun"." 

It  may  be  seen,  therefore,  that  Sir  Thomas  Bro\\Tie  has  given  his  | 
allegiance  to  the  old  faith.     There  is  only  a  faint  hint  of  "the  free-  1 
dom  of  the  scientific  spirit"  in  the  Religio  Medici.     So  equivocal,  ' 
however,  is  his  position  on  certain  points  that  the  reader  suspects 
the  mind  of  the  man  to  be  outgro\Wng  the  ' '  ancient  faith ' ' ;  but  no- 
where in  this  book  does  he  take  the  new  attitude.     The  new  mental 
impulse  was  yet  to  come  to  him,  the  impulse  destined  to  destroy 
entirely  the  attitude  of  non-reason  and  most  of  the  beliefs  in  this 
book. 

The  ten  years  from  1635  to  1645  made  a  radical  change  in  the 
point  of  view  of  Sir  Thomas  Browne.  Early  in  the  Vulgar  Errors 
(published  in  1616)  the  most  typical  characteristic  of  the  new  phil- 
osophers finds  expression ; — namely,  a  defiance  of  ancient  authority. 
"But  the  mortalest  enemy  unto-  knowledge,  and  that  which  hath 
done  the  greatest  execution  upon  truth,  hath  been  the  peremptory 
adhesion  unto  authority,  and  more  especially  of  our  belief  upon  the 
dictates  of  Antiquity  ".^^  Against  the  unqualified  acceptance  of  the 
"dictates  of  Antiquity"  Browne  finds  seven  reasons,  which  any 
member  of  the  Royal  Society  would  have  endorsed.  1.  Men  im- 
pose a  thraldom  upon  their  times  by  too  great  reverence  for  antiq- 
uity. 2.  The  ancient  times  were  once  present  times  (from  Bacon 
himself).  3.  The  testimonies  from  antiquity  are  not  always  ex- 
act. 4.  The  fabulous  condition  of  the  accounts  should  be  con- 
sidered. 5.  Men  applaud  merely  ordinary  things  in  the  Ancients. 
6.     Men  argue  the  authority  of  the  Ancients  on  points  that  do  not 

"  Ibid.  vol.  I,  p.  48. 

^  Religio  Medici,  vol.  I,   p.   100. 

i=Ibid.  vol.  I,  p.  111. 

"  Vulgar  Errors,  vol.  I,  p.   152. 


32  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

need  it.  7.  Men  have  already  deserted  antiquity  on  some  things.^* 
These  are  strange  words  from  the  pen  of  the  author  of  the  Religio 
Medici;  they  voice  a  mental  attitude  in  perfect  accord  with  the 
founder  of  the  new  experimental  philosophy.  "Bacon's  protest 
against  the  principle  of  authority  is  no  less  vigorous  than  that  of 
Descartes  ".^^ 

But  not  only  has  this  philosophical  physician  largely  the  mental 
attitude  of  the  new  scientists,  he  has  also  an  active  interest  in  the 
reconstruction  of  the  new  natural  history.  For,  first  of  all,  the 
aim  in  writing  Vulgar  Errors  was  to  correct  false  notions  that  had 
found  lodgment  in  the  minds  of  the  common  people.^''  The  author 
becomes  here  a  true  virtuoso,  testing  by  experiment  and  observation 
these  long  accepted  theories,  and  reporting  with  care  the  facts  and 
his  conclusions.  "No  metal  attracts,  nor  animal  concretion  we 
know,  although  polite  and  smooth;  as  we  have  made  trial  in  Elk's 
hoofs.  Hawk's  Talons,  the  sword  of  the  Sword-fish,  Tortois-shells, 
Sea-horse,  and  Elephant's  teeth,  in  Bones,  in  Harts-horn,  and  what 
is  usually  conceived  Unicorn's  horn"."  This  reads  like  a  report 
to  the  Royal  Society,  and  shows  beyond  a  doubt  that  Sir  Thomas 
Browne  was  by  this  time,  both  in  attitude  and  method,  one  of  the 
new  philosophers.  The  "divine  mysteries"  were  no  longer  ac- 
cepted on  faith,  but  must  be  "strongly  erected  upon  the  two  great 
pillars  of  truth,  experience  and  reason  ".^^  In  the  same  manner  he 
proceeded  to  explain  by  natural  causes  the  noise  of  the  Death- 
watch,  ^®  and  to  prove  that  "crystal  is  not  concreted  Ice  or  Snow".-" 
It  was  he  who  found  the  natural  cause  for  "the  raining  of  wheat 
from  heaven",  which  created  so  much  excitement  among  the  virtuosi 
at  Gresham  College.^^  "What  was  found  this  year  in  many  places 
and  almost  preached  for  wheat  rained  from  the  clouds,  was  but 
the    seed    of    the    ivy-berries,    which    somewhat    represent    it".^^ 

"  Vulgar  Errors,  vol.  I,  chap.  VI. 

"  Seth,  James,  English  Philosophers,  p.  3. 

''  Vulgar  Errors,  pp.   118-9,  Preface. 

"  Vulgar  Errors,  vol.  II,  p.  252. 

"Ibid.  vol.   II,  p.   104. 

"Ibid.  vol.   I,  p.   299. 

*oibid.  vol.  II,   Bk.   II,   chap.    1. 

'^  Phil.  Trans.  Jan.  21,  1666. 

"  Vulgar  Errors,  vol.  I,  p.  303. 


THE   CONFLICT   OF   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  33 

The  vulgar  error  that  "a  Dove  or  Pigeon  hath  no  gall"  seemed  to 
him  repugnant  to  experience,  for  "anatomical  enquiry  discovereth 
in  them  a  gall".-^  Furthermore,  he  had  made  experiments  with 
glow-worms ;  he  had  tested  distilled  waters ;  he  was  familiar  with 
and  approved  Helvelius's  selenography;-*  he  was  acquainted  with 
the  conflicting  theories  of  magnetism  as  pronounced  by  Descartes 
("whether  these  effluviums  do  fly  by  striated  Atoms  and  winding 
particles  as  Renatus  Descartes  conceiveth"-")  and  by  Sir  Kenelm 
Digby  ("  or  glide  by  streams  attracted  from  either  Pole  and  Hemis- 
phere unto  the  Equator  as  Sir  Kenelm  Digby  excellently  declar- 
eth"-^).  To  his  judgment  there  was  sufficient  proof  for  the  ac- 
ceptance of  that  curious  theory, — likewise  listened  to  with  much 
respect  by  the  Royal  Society — that  music  had  great  power  over 
Tarantulas.  The  citation  will  serve  as  an  illustration  of  how  strong 
"the  two  great  pillars  of  truth,  experience  and  reason,"  must  be 
tD  support  belief.  "Some  doubt  many  have  of  the  Tarantula,  or 
poisonous  spider  of  Cabbria,  and  that  magical  cure  of  the  bite 
thereof  by  Musick.  But  since  we  observe  that  many  attest  it  from 
experience ;  since  the  learned  Kircherius  hath  positively  averred  it, 
and  set  down  songs  and  tunes  solemnly  used  for  it ;  since  some  also 
affirm  the  Tarantula  itself  will  dance  upon  certain  strooks  whereby 
they  set  their  instruments  against  its  poison;  we  shall  not  at  all 
question  it"." 

There  is  reason  for  surprise  that  Sir  Thomas  Browne  was  not 
elected  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  for  he  was  much  respected 
among  the  new  scientists,  as  proved  by  their  request  that  he  should 
write  for  them  an  account  of  Iceland  whither  he  had  travelled.^* 
For  years,  also,  he  was  actively  interested  in  antiquarian  researches 
in  England.  The  results  of  his  investigations  are  found  in  The 
TJrn  Burial,  Brampton  Urns,  and  many  of  his  miscellaneous  tracts. 
In  all  of  this  effort  he  was  helping  in  the  work  of  reconstructing  the 
natural  history  of  the  world. 

From  the  foregoing  discussion  it  is  evident  that  Sir  Thomas 

»Ibid.  p.  317,   318. 

"Ibid.  vol.  II,  p.  99. 

«Ibid.  vol.  II,  p.   398. 

^  Ytdgar  Errors,  vol.  II,  p.  218. 

"Ibid.  vol.   II,  p.   106. 

^  An  Account  of  Island,  alias  Iceland,  at  the  Request  of  the  Royal  Society. 


34  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

Browne  had  been  thoroughly  converted  to  the  new  scientific  at- 
titude, and  that  he  must  have  relinquished  many  an  old  theory 
which  could  not  adjust  itself  to  experience  and  reason.  And  yet 
to  the  last  he  clung  to  certain  old  beliefs  that  were  rapidly  yield 
ing  before  the  attack  of  the  new  science.     Concerning  astrology  he 

wrote ; — "We  do  not  hereby  reject  a  sober  regulated  astrology 

We  do  not  deny  the  influence  of  the  stars  ".^^  He  still  held  to  the 
Ptolemaic  system; — "And  first  we  can  not  pass  over  His  Provi- 
dence, in  that  the  sun  moveth  at  all,  for  if  it  stood  still,  and  were 
fixed  like  the  earth,  there  had  been  then  no  distinction  of  time, 
either  of  day  or  year,  of  Spring,  of  Autumn,  of  Summer,  of  Win- 
ter ".^°  He  continued  to  believe  in  omens  and  portents,  and  in 
general  evaded  the  whole  Copernican  Theory.^^ 

Sir  Thomas  Browne  has  been  treated  with  some  minuteness  be- 
cause he  represents  so  clearly  the  struggle  between  the  old  and  the 
new  beliefs  during  this  transitional  period.  He  was,  in  the  first 
place,  a  physician  and  was  brought  by  his  profession  into  close 
contact  with  the  new  scientific  inquiries.  In  the  second  place,  ho 
was  gifted  with  imagination  and  felt  an  impulse  to  give  literary 
expression  to  what  he  thought  and  felt.  His  experience  will  serve 
as  a  type  in  prose  for  this  early  period, — the  transition  from  the 
old  science  to  the  new,  the  breaking  doMTi  of  vulgar  errors  such  as 
traditions,  superstitions  and  "romantic  stories",  and  the  establish- 
ing of  a  new  system  of  truth  founded  on  the  two  great  pillars, 
experience  and  reason. 

Across  the  minds  of  the  poets  who  were  brought  into  direct  con- 
tact with  the  new  philosophy,  there  fell  the  sudden  light  of  the 
new  discoveries.  * '  Every  atom  became  a  standing  miracle ' '  through 
the  lenses  of  the  microscope;  and  the  old  heaven  and  the  old  earth 
passed  away  before  the  telescope.  The  old  physical  imagery  grew 
obsolete;  the  conceptions  of  the  old  science  became  outworn.  In 
this  period,  "when  the  traditions  of  the  ancient  faith  met  in  full 
encounter  with  the  forces  of  the  new  philosophy",  poetic  imagina- 
tion was  struggling  to  adjust  itself  to  new  conditions.  This  liter- 
ary phenomenon  is  illustrated  in  the  work  of  Cowley,  Waller,  Den- 

*»  Vulgar  Errors,  vol.  II,  p.   200. 

»«Ibid.  p.   318. 

»Ibid.  vol.   II,   p.    194;   vol.   II,   p.   318. 


THE   CONFLICT   OF   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  35 

ham,  tlie  Duchess  of  Newcastle,  ]\Iilton  and  Dryden.''^  The  prob- 
lem presented  is  two-fold; — (1)  To  what  extent  the  poets  were 
influenced  by  the  new  ideas,  and  (2)  how  adequately  they  gave 
literary  expression  to  them. 

Cowley  was  early  an  ardent  advocate  of  the  new  scientific  in- 
quiries, and  took  an  active  part  in  their  encouragement.  Like  Mil- 
ton and  Evelyn,  he  was  interested  in  educational  reform  and  pub- 
lished in  1661,  A  Proposition  for  the  Advancement  of  Learning. 
This  is  a  prose  essay  in  which  the  author  has  outlined  specifically 
a  plan  for  a  new  technical  school.  He  has  even  given  the  number 
of  instructors  to  be  employed  and  the  salaries  to  be  paid  them,  and 
the  number  of  students  to  be  enrolled.  By  means  of  this  institu- 
tion he  hoped,  according  to  the  preface,  to  encourage  "the  inquisi- 
tion into  the  nature  of  God's  Creatures,  and  the  application  of 
them  (principles  discovered)  to  Humane  Uses  (especially  the  lat- 
ter".)''^  It  may  thus  be  seen  that  Cowley  was  brought  fairly  into 
contact  with  the  new  science ;  he  knew  its  method,  its  spirit  of 
inquiry,  and  its  early  achievements. 

The  passages  in  his  poetry,  however,  that  reveal  any  influence 
of  the  new  philosophy  are  surprisingly  few.  Such  admiration  as 
he  expressed  was  for  the  character  and  work  of  Bacon  and  Harvey. 
In  his  Ode  to  the  Royal  Society,  he  praises  Bacon  for  his  revolt 
against  the  power  of  ancient  authority. — 

"Authority made 

Children  and  superstitious  men  afraid. 
The  orchard's  open  now  and  free; 
Bacon  has  broke  the   Scare-crow  Deitie".^* 
This  great  scientist,  like  another  Moses,  has  led  men  forth  from 
the  bondage  of  scholasticism;  like  a  new  star  that  "does  to  Fools 
a  Meteor  .show",  he  has  added  new  beauty  to  the  heavens.     But 
through  all  the  extravagant  flattery  of  this  "unnavigable"  poem, 
one  may  clearly  see  that  the  quality  in  the  work  of  Bacon  which 
Cowley  best  understood  and  by  which  he  was  most  attracted  w^as  not 

**  Courthope,  W.  .J.,  Ilistory  of  English  Poetry: — "No  more  lively  or  characteristic 
representative  can  be  found  of  the  thought  of  an  age  when  the  traditions  of  an  ancient 
faith  met  in  full  encounter  with  the  forces  of  the  new  philosophy". — On  Donne,  vol. 
Ill,  p.  168. 

^A   Proposition  for  the  Advancement   of  Learning,   Preface. 

>*  Ode  to  the  Royal  Society. 


36  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

his  widening  of  tlie  physical  and  intellectual  horizon,  but  "his 
candid  stile".  Bacon's  style,  however,  influenced  him  only  in  his 
"Montaigne-like"  essays.^^ 

Harvey's  physiological  discoveries  aroused  Cowley's  admiration 
which  found  a  somewhat  awkward  expression  in  an  Ode  to  Dr. 
Harvey.  There  is  in  these  lines  a  curious  attempt  to  adapt  the 
old  classical  imagery  to  these  new  scientific  ideas.  The  effect  is 
almost  grotesque.  Harvey's  search  for  truth  in  nature  is  compared 
to  the  pursuit  of  Daphne  and  to  Jason's  journey  after  the  golden 
fleece;  his  great  discovery  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood  is  the 
capture  of  a  modern  Proteus; — "Held  the  slippery  Proteus  in 
chain  ".^*  The  clearest  and  strongest  lines  in  the  poem  describe 
the  new  process  of  investigation. — 

"Thus  Harvey  sought  for  truth  in  truth's  own  book, 

The  Creatures,  which  by  God  himself  was  writ; 

And  Avisely  thought  'twas  fit. 

Not  to  read  Comments  only  upon  it, 

But  on  the  Original  itself  to  look",^'^ 
All  in  all,  it  is  a  poor  showing  that  the  new  science  makes  in 
Cowley's  verse.  "Where  an  attempt  is  made  to  give  poetic  ex- 
pression to  the  new  ideas  the  lines  become  awkward  and  "un- 
navigable",  or  else  they  are  conventional,  and  classical  imagery 
obscures  them.  No  new  vision  of  the  heavens  has  come  to  him 
through  the  telescope;  the  "crowds  of  golden  globes  on  high",^^ 
the  milky  way,  the  falling  meteors,  "gilding  the  passage  as  they 
flie",  were  all  beheld  by  poets  before  the  advent  of  the  new  science. 
Cowley's  mind  was  fettered  by  classical  and  out-worn  imagery, 
but  clearly  also  his  imagination  was  struggling  to  harmonize  that 
"painful  discord"  with  reason.  The  sum  of  his  expression  of  the 
new  philosophy,  "the  great  and  only  heir  of  all  the  Ages",  is  the 
encouragement  of  interest  and  enthusiasm,  a  few  awkward  at- 
tempts at  literary  expression,  and  a  scant  half  dozen  new  images. 

Three  other  poets  belong  in  the  same  group  with  Cowley.     They, 
too,  held  over  from  the  old  regime  and  came  late  to  the  new  point 

»  Gosse,   Edmund,  History  of  18th  Century  Lit.,  p.   77. 

•*  Ode  to  Dr.  Harvey,  st.  2. 

»'  Ibid. 

*•  Cf.  Ode  to  the  Royal  Society,  Clad  in  White,  Reason,  Maidenhead. 


THE   CONFLICT   OF   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  37 

of  view.  They,  too,  were  intimately  connected  witli  the  new 
scientists.  Edmund  Waller  was  elected  to  a  fellowship  in  the 
Royal  Societ}'",  and  must,  therefore,  have  evinced  considerable  in- 
terest in  the  new  scientific  research.  But  the  effect  of  the  new 
discoveries  upon  his  mind  was  slight.  A  rather  striking  figure 
came  to  him  from  Descartes.  "Besides  their  verses  ran  all  into 
one  another,  and  hung  together,  throughout  the  whole  copy,  like 
the  hooked  atoms  that  compose  a  body  in  Des  Cartes  ".^^  The 
physical  imagery  in  his  verse  is  almost  always  that  of  the  old 
science;  there  are  "the  rolling  planets  and  the  glorious  sun",*° 
"the  influence  of  the  stars'',*^  ^^d  "the  bright  stars  and  milky 
way".*-  A  few  items  of  scientific  news  he  had  gleaned,  however, 
such  as  the  newly  discovered  sunspots,  the  motion  of  the  earth,*^ 
and  the  cause  of  the  winds.**  But  not  even  these  ideas  are  used 
with  consistency.  What  a  meagre  expression  is  this  for  a  poet 
who  lived  through  those  years  of  splendid  scientific  development 
from  1660  to  1680.  He  may  have  come  too  late  to  adjust  himself 
to  the  new  ideas;  certainly  he  was  not  inspired  by  them. 

Denham,  likewise  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  touched  upon 
the  new  material  in  only  one  poem.  The  Progress  of  Learning.  He 
manifested  in  these  lines  little  confidence  in  the  firm  foundation 
that  was  being  laid  for  a  new  natural  history. 

"Through  seas  of  knowledge,  we  our  course  advance. 
Discovering  still  new  worlds  of  Ignorance, 
And  those  discoveries  make  us  all  confess 
That  sublunary  Science  is  but  guess. 
Matters  of  fact,  to  man  are  only  known, 
And  what  seems  more  is  meer  opinion."*' 

This,  then,  was  the  boasted  progress  that  learning  had  made  through 
the  ages;  this  was  the  kind  of  knowledge  which  "like  the  blood, 
must    circulate"!      All    attempts    to    "anatomize    the    truth   into 

•»  Waller,  Edmund,  Poems,  pt.  II,  Preface,  p.  XXI. 

"  On  the  Fear  of  God.  canto  II,  1.  23. 

*'^  Instructions  to  a  Painter;  the  Presage  of  Rain. 

*^  The  Night  Piece. 

*5  Divine  Love,  canto  IV,   15-18. 

**  Divine  Poesy,  canto  II,  15-16. 

*"  The  Progress  of  Learning. 


38  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

Atoms"  must  needs  be  in  vain.  There  is  for  Denhara  no  inspira- 
tion in  the  new  philosophy.  The  dearth  of  new  ideas  in  his  lines 
is  striking.  From  all  the  discoveries  of  science  he  had  caught  these 
two  figures;  besides,  in  an  abstract  way,  man's  body  had  become  to 
him  a  "microcosm"  of  the  new  philosophy.  The  influence  of  the 
new  science  upon  him  is  negligible ;  the  attempt  to  give  poetic  ex- 
pression to  what  he  must  have  known  is  slight.  He  did  not,  or 
could  not,  adjust  himself  to  the  new  conditions. 

Another  member  of  this  group,  though  remarkable  in  many 
ways,  may  be  dismissed  with  a  few  words.  The  Duchess  of  New- 
castle found  an  insatiable  interest  in  philosophy.  It  is  known 
that  she  once  paid  a  visit  to  the  Royal  Society,  a  fact  which  caused 
a  great  flutter  in  London  social  circles.*^  Long  before  this  she  had 
made  up  a  fairly  complete  system  of  philosophy,  for  herself  (1655). 
Her  method  was  simple  in  the  extreme.  She  took  from  Descartes 
and  Hobbes  the  two  fundamental  principles  of  all  creation  outside 
of  man  himself,  matter  and  motion.  She  held,  therefore,  that  all 
physical  forms  were  made  by  an  infinite  variety  of  motion.  An 
animal  would,  according  to  her  system,  differ  from  a  stone  because 
of  the  different  motion  of  the  particles  that  compose  the  bodies. 
There  was,  also,  the  "innate"  motion  which  gave  life  and  spirit 
to  men.  It  is,  however,  impossible  to  take  her  seriously.  She 
has  characterized  her  o^A^l  mind  as  aptly  as  any  satire  could  do  it : 
* '  I  dance  a  measure  with  the  Muses,  feast  with  the  Sciences,  or  sit 
and  discourse  with  the  Arts".*^  Not  in  such  a  manner  can  either 
the  arts  or  sciences  be  advanced,  nor  thus  can  the  Muses  be  highly 
honored.  The  Duchess  was,  in  fact,  merely  an  indefatigable  scrib- 
bler ;  her  mind  was  ' '  ever  bubbling  over  with  phantasies ".  "  Doc- 
tor", said  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle  to  Wilkins  regarding  his  Dis- 
covery of  a  Neiv  World,  "where  am  I  to  find  a  place  for  baiting 
at,  in  the  way  up  to  that  planet?"  "Madam",  replied  Wilkins, 
"of  all  the  people  in  the  world,  I  never  expected  that  question  from 
you,  who  have  built  so  many  castles  in  the  air,  that  you  may  be 
every  night  at  one  of  your  own".*^ 

^opepys's   Diary,    May   30,    1667. 

"  Duch.  of  Newcastle,  The  Philosophical  and  Physical  Opinions  of,  28. 

**  Burnet's  History  of  his  own  Times,  p.  128. 


THE   CONFLICT   OP   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  39 

In  her  essay  on  philosophy  and  physics  she  has  interpolated  ver- 
sified passages.     One  sample  is  enough. 

"The  Earth,  Sun,  Moon,  the  rest  of  Planets  all 
Are  moved  by  that,  we  Vitall  Spirits  cal. 
And  like  to  Animals,  some  move  slow. 
And  other  some  by  quicker  motion  go. 
And  so  some  Creatures  by  their  shapes  do  flye. 
Some  swim,  some  run,  some  creep,  some  riseth  high. 
So  Planets  by  their  shapes  about  do  winde. 
All  being  made,  like  Circles,  round  we  finde."*" 
Aside  from  these  uninspired  attempts,  her  verse  contains  the  most 
conventional  imagery.     She  was  obviously  eager  to  learn  the  new 
philosophy,  she  was  highly  delighted  with  the  experiments  which 
the  Royal  Society  performed  for  her;  but  she  did  not  contribute 
anything  toward  the  literary  interpretation  of  the  new  science. 
On  the  contrary,  she  offered  a  splendid  target  for  the  "Wits  and 
Railleurs". 

This  struggle  between  the  old  and  the  new  ideas  was  also  in 
the  mind  of  John  Milton,  the  belated  Puritan.     In  his  university 
days  he  was  taught  the  old  Ptolemaic  doctrines  which  were  held 
by  both  Cam])ridge  and  Oxford  at  that  time.^"     That  his  imagina- 
tion first  built  upon  the  old  physical  conceptions  can  be  demon- 
strated from  his  early  poems. ^^     Behind  The  Hymn  of  the  Nativity, 
The  Arcades,  and  Comus  lie  the  old  scientific  beliefs.     It  is  true 
that  much  freedom  should  be  granted  the  poet  in  the  matter  of 
poetic  imagery;  "he  cherishes  the  old  idols  long  after  they  have  lost 
their  sanctity  and  have  been  disowned  by  philosophers".     The 
poetic  use  of  Greek  and  Roman  myths  does  not  postulate  an  ac- 
ceptance in  the  poet's  mind.     And  yet,  such  lines  as  the  following 
show  an  undistrubed  confidence  in  the  old  science. 
"When  the  sons  of  the  morning  sung, 
Wliile  the  Creator  great 
His  constellation  set, 
And  the  well-balanced  world  on  hinges  hung."^- 

*'  Of  the  Motion  of  Planets,  Phil,  and  Phys.  Opinions,  p.  24. 
^  Masson,  David,  Life  of  Milton,  vi,  p.  534. 
^  Ibid.   "Milton  also  inherited  the  Ptolemaic  cosmology". 
''2  Hymn  on  the  Nativity,  St.  XII. 


40  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

The  music-of-the-spheres  idea  finds  repeated  expression.  Further- 
more, when  IMilton  was  tutor  to  his  nephews,  1642-7,  he  taught 
them  astronomy  from  John  Holyrood's  De  Sphaera.  This  man 
was  a  thirteenth  century  scientist,  "entirely  and  especially  Ptole- 
maic".^^ In  a  word,  Milton  had  his  mind  filled  with  the  old  natur- 
al philosophy  when  he  began  "brooding  over  the  subject  of  his  great 
epic". 

The  new  philosophy,  however,  was  not  unknown  to  him.  In 
1638-9,  he  made  a  journey  to  Italy  where  he  "saw  and  conversed 
with  Galileo".^*  From  this  interview  it  may  be  assumed  that  he 
gained  a  fairly  clear  idea  of  the  epoch-making  work  of  that  scien- 
tist. That  his  mind  was  interested  in  scientific  research  is  shown 
by  his  Tractate  on  Education,  where  he  urges  a  greater  study  of 
science.^^  From  1642  to  1665,  while  Paradise  Lost  lay  in  abeyance, 
the  new  experimental  philosophy  made  great  progress  in  England. 
Astronomy,  as  has  been  shown,  was  being  revolutionized,  and  men's 
conceptions  of  the  heavens  were  rapidly  changing.  Scientific  in- 
quiry had  become  popular  in  London;  Sorbiere  found  a  public 
telescope  set  up  in  St.  James  Park.^*'  The  time  was  drawing  near 
for  Newton  to  demonstrate  the  truth  of  the  Copernican  theory  and 
define  with  accuracy  the  laws  of  gravitation  at  which  Hookc  and 
others  had  broadly  hinted. 

In  the  midst  of  this  scientific  readjustment  Milton  came  to  the 
writing  of  Paradise  Lost.  As  might  have  been  anticipated,  the 
whole  background  of  his  cosmology  is  made  up  of  the  old  science. 
There  are  suggestions  of  the  spheres  of  Dante's  world ;^^  there  are 
spirits  that  walk  the  earth  unseen  f^  there  are  planets  that  are  in- 
habited by  the  monstrous  and  abortive  births  from  this  world;" 
the  stars  move  in  a  "mystic  dance,  and  not  without  song";®*'  the 
rolling  heavens  turn  on  a  great  axle  f^  the  stars  shed  their  old-time 

^  Masson,   David,   Life   of  Milton,  vol.  VI,   p.   534. 

"  Ibid. 

"s  Milton  urges  in  this  paper  a  further  study  of  science  for  practical  purposeB. 

w  Sorbiere,  Relation  D'Un  Voyage  en  Angleterre,  p.  32, 

^"i  Par.  Lost,  III,  416. 

"Ibid.   IV,   677. 

wibid.   Ill,  455-62. 

•"Ibid.  V,    175-9;    18-27. 

•ilbid.  V,  577-9;  VII,  380-5. 


THE   CONFLICT   OP   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  41 

astrological  influence;''-  the  alchemists  change  the  baser  metals 
into  gold  in  the  regions  below  ;''^  and,  finally,  man  stands  as  the 
centre  of  the  universe.  These  details  show  how  Milton  employed, 
apparently  without  hesitation,  the  old  beliefs,  and  based  his  colos- 
sal fabric  on  the  old  physical  conceptions.  And  so  solidly  did  he 
build  that  even  in  the  nineteenth  century  Huxley  found  it  neces- 
sary to  attack  the  science  of  Milton  rather  than  that  of  Genesis. 

But  IMilton's  mind  was  not  wholly  undisturbed  by  the  new  ideas. 
The  "optic  tube"  of  Galileo  rose  persistently  in  the  midst  of  his 
imaginings  f*  the  poet  seemed  troubled  by  it,  if  not  really  fearful 
lest  it  should  bring  his  whole  house  of  cards  tumbling  about  his 
ears.  And  he  was  right,  too,  in  his  apprehensions,  for  even  as  he 
wrote  the  scientists  were  grinding  the  lenses  for  a  telescope  that 
would  enable  them  to  see,  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt,  the  false 
basis  of  his  physical  theories.  But  Milton  had  every  reason  to  want 
to  know  the  truth;  he  was  purposing  to  write  a  poem  which  he 
hoped  the  world  would  not  willingly  let  perish,  and  its  foundations 
must  be  laid  as  firmly  as  possible.  To  Adam,  therefore,  he  gave 
the  inquisitive  mind  of  the  new  philosopher  who  would  not  be  satis- 
fied Avith  the  old  traditions  and  accepted  explanations ;  to  Adam  he 
gave  also  a  glimpse  of  the  new  conception,  destined  to  revolutionize 
theology  and  philosophy,  of  man's  comparative  insignificance  in  the 
infinite  expanse  of  the  universe.  Adam,  like  John  Locke,  began  to 
doubt  the  long-accepted  "anthropocentric  idea";  "the  scenery  had 
become  too  wide  for  the  drama  ".*'^ 

' '  Reasoning  I  oft  admire ' ',  said  the  inquisitive  Adam  to  Raphael, 
"how  Nature,  wise  and  frugal,  could  commit  such  disproportions".'® 
The  significant  word  "reasoning",  at  once  put  all  the  old  beliefs 
upon  the  defensive;  nuUius  in  verba  can  be  truly  called  Adam's 
motto  as  well  as  that  of  the  new  philosophers;  he,  like  them, 
has  proposed  "to  examine  all  systems,  theories,  principles,  hypothe- 
ses".    Raphael,  at  first,  answered  him  evasively  that  "it  makes  no 

«2Ibid.  VIII,   511-3. 

"Ibid.   VII,    346-8. 

<"Ibid.  I,  287-90;  V.  261-2;  III,  587-90:  VIII,  74,  149;  "In  Paradise  Lost  there 
are  nine  references  to  Galileo  and  one  to  Copernicus". — Woodhull,  Marianna,  The  Epic 
of  Par.  Lost,  p.  310. 

•=  Stephens,  Leslie,  History  of  Eng.  Thought  in   18th  Cent.,  vol.  I,  p.  81. 
^<^Par.  Lost,  VIII,   15-36. 


42  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

difference  whether  the  heaven  or  earth  move,  and  that  the  Great 
Architect  had  not  divulged  this  secret  even  to  the  angels".®^  He 
many  have  left  it  a  mystery  for  the  purpose  of  leading  man  on  to 
wild  conjecture  in  order  that  He  might  sit  in  the  heavens  and  laugh 
at  the  "centric  and  eccentric,  cycle  and  epicycle,  orb  in  orh".^^ 
Man  ought  rather  to  wonder  and  be  content  than  to  pry  into  these 
deep  secrets.  But  the  new  philosopher  will  not  be  satisfied  with 
this  ansAver;  some  definite  attitude  must  be  taken  towards  those 
new  ideas  concerning  the  motion  of  the  earth  which  were  then  rife 
in  England.  The  result  of  this  insistence  was  a  skillful  evasion. 
"Admitting  motion  in  the  heavens,  not  that  I  so  affirm,  though  so 
it  seem  to  thee  who  hast  thy  dwelling  here  on  earth,  it  imports  thee 
not.  Or  what  if  the  sun  be  centre  to  the  world,  what  if  the  light 
sent  through  the  transpicuous  air  to  the  terrestrial  moon  make  earth 
seem  like  a  star,  what  if  the  moon  be  inhabited,^^  what  if  there  be 
other  suns  w^ith  their  attendant  moons  ^^'^  "Whether  thus  these 
things  be,  or  whether  not,  whether  the  sun  rise  on  the  earth  or  the 
earth  on  the  sun,"  solicit  not  thy  thoughts  with  matters  hid ;  leave 
them  to  God,  Him  serve  and  fear".'^^ 

"Be  lowly  wise. 
Think  only  what  concerns  thee,  and  thy  being; 
Dream  not  of  other  worlds,  what  creatures  there 
Live,  in  what  state,  condition,  or  degree, 
Contented  that  thus  far  hath  been  revealed 
Not  of  earth  only,  but  of  highest  Heaven. '  '^^ 

"What  had  been  revealed  to  Adam  in  direct  answer  to  his  in- 
quiry was  precisely  this, — these  things  may  or  may  not  be  so.  And 
this  attitude  seemed  wholly  satisfactory  to  Milton;  once  past  this 
doubtful  ground,  he  went  confidently  on,  as  when  earlier  he  had 
followed  implicitly  the  Mosaic  account.  There  was  apparently 
considerable  relief  expressed  in  that  final  apostrophe  to  science, 
when  once  he  had  gone  by  this  lion  in  the  way. — 

•"  Ibid.  VIII,  70-85. 
^Par.  Lost,  VIII,  115-9. 

8BIbid.  VIII,  140-5. 

"Ibid.  VIII,  148-52. 

"Ibid.  VIII,  159-62. 

"Ibid.  VIII,  167-8. 

"Ibid.  VIII,  173-8. 


THE   CONFLICT   OF   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  43 

"Mother  of  Science!     Now  I  feel  thy  power 
Within  me  clear;  not  only  to  discern 
Things  in  their  causes,  but  to  trace  the  ways 
Of  highest  agents,  deemed  however  wise.'"'* 
From  the  background  of  this  vast  structure  stands  forth  the 
simple  query  of  the  new  philosophy, — How  can  these  things  be? 
]\Iilton  himself  knew  not  what  to  answer.     The  Miltonic  universe 
trembled  to  its  foundation  before  the  "wary  and  circumspect"  at- 
titude of  the  new  scientists.     The  poet  dared  not  scorn  the  new 
theories,  nor  could  he  wholly  ignore  them ;  and  yet,  he  was  afraid 
to  accept  lest  he  should  be  too  hasty.     "Raphael,  while  not  deny- 
ing the  true  astronomy,  had  not  suffered  Adam  to  deny  the  false  ".^^ 
Such  an  attitude  of  doubt  must  find  expression  in  equivocation,  and 
equivocation  is  only  a  skillful  means  of  evading  an  adjustment  to 
new  ideas.     As  a  consequence,  Paradise  Lost  represents  the  great 
scientific  evasion  of  this  period  of  transition. 

Dryden,  who  was  far  more  a  poet  of  his  period  than  IMilton,  was 
another  literary  member  of  the  Royal  Society.  Although  there  is 
no  record  of  his  attending  any  of  the  meetings,  he  was  certainly 
acquainted  with  some  of  the  investigatore  and  had  a  good  oppor- 
tunity to  know  the  character  of  their  work.  But  his  real  attitude 
toward  the  new  philosophy  is  hard  to  define,  for  there  is  a  hetero- 
geneous mixture  of  what  is  old  and  what  is  new  in  his  verse.  The 
Annus  Mirahilis,  for  example,  has  a  striking  figure  based  on  the 
circulation  of  the  blood,^'^  and  references  to  the  recent  theories  on 
the  formation  of  ores  underground"  and  the  causes  of  meteors.^^ 
But  woven  into  the  very  texture  of  the  poem  is  the  imagery  of 
astrology.'^  The  new  material  is,  however,  directly  out  of  the  dis- 
cussion of  scientific  circles;  the  poet  has  followed  thus  far  the  in- 
junction of  Bishop  Sprat, — to  use  experiments  for  poetic  imagery. 
One  passage  must  be  noted  in  detail,  a  prophetic  address  to  the 
Royal  Society,  which  shows  some  appreciation  of  the  poetic  possi- 
bilities in  the  new  scientific  ideas. — 

''*Par.  Lost,  IX,   679-82. 

''"Elton,   Oliver,  The  Augustan  Ages,  p.   211. 

''^  Annus  Mirabilis,   5-6. 

"Ibid.   529. 

'«n)id.   559. 

'"Ibid.  553-6. 


44  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    UTERATURE 

"Then  we  upon  our  globe's  last  verge  shall  go, 
And  view  the  Ocean  leaning  on  the  sky; 
From  thence  our  rolling  neighbors  we  shall  know, 
And  on  the  lunar  world  securely  pry. 

Till  I  foretell  from  your  auspicious  care. 
Who  great  in  search  of  God  and  Nature  grow; 
Who  best  your  wise  Creator's  praise  declare, 
Since  best  to  praise  his  works  is  best  to  know. 

0  truly  royal!     Who  behold  the  law 
And  rule  of  things  in  your  Maker's  mind; 
And  thence,  like  limbecs,  rich  ideas  draw. 
To  fit  the  levelled  use  of  human-kind."®" 

In  the  Epistle  to  Dr.  CliarJeton  there  is  high  praise  expressed  for 
the  leading  scientists  of  the  century,  "the  assertors  of  free  reason's 
Claim". 

"The  world  to  Bacon  does  not  only  owe 
Its  present  knowledge,  but  its  future  too. 
Gilbert  shall  live,  till  loadstones  cease  to  draw, 
And  noble  Boyle,  not  less  in  nature  seen, 
The  circling  streams,  once  thought  but  pools 
From  dark  oblivion  Harvey's  name  shall  save."" 

There  is,  besides,  such  a  recent  scientific  experiment  as  the  trans- 
fusion of  blood  poetized  by  Dryden  in  his  lines  to  Mrs.  Anne  Killi- 
grew, — "Thy  father  was  transfused  into  thy  blood".  But  he  had 
already  transferred  her  soul  to  some  neighboring  star,  which 
"moved  Avith  heaven's  majestic  pace";  the  milder  planets  of  the 
old  astrology  had  combined  to  shine  on  her  auspicious  horoscope; 
and  the  spheres  for  her  were  musical,  as  Ptolemy  had  said.^-  Else- 
where also,  as  in  the  poem  Upon  the  Death  of  Lord  Hastings,  and  in 
the  lines  To  Sir  Robert  Hoivard,  Dryden  knows  only  the  "dancing 
crystal  spheres"  and  "the  atoms  casually  together  hurled".  Even 
when  polishing  Milton's  Paradise  Lost  into  heroic  couplets  in  The 

80  Ibid.   653. 

^  Epistle  to  Dr.   Charleton. 

"  Lines  to  Mrs.  A7ine  Killigrew,  41-2,   489-90. 


THE   CONFLICT   OF   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  45 

State  of  Innocence,  and  the  Fall  of  Man,  the  earth  is  " self-centred 
and  unmoved",  while  the  "moving  sun"  brings  the  new  day.^^ 

From  all  of  which  it  follows  that  Dryden  was  not  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  new  philosophy.  It  seems  never  to  have  occurred 
to  him  that  it  was  a  serious  matter  to  know  the  truth  about  nature, 
or  at  least  to  be  consistent  about  its  representation.  He  never 
learned  'to  read  in  the  great  book  of  nature,  to  walk  in  its  garden 
and  taste  its  plenty'.  With  his  splendid  opportunity  to  associate 
with  the  best  scientific  minds  of  his  time,  he  cast  them  all  aside  with 
a  word  of  compliment,  and  sought  Will 's  Coffee  House  for  political 
gossip.  He  was  too  much  engrossed  with  the  affairs  of  men,  and 
his  genius  was  too  "narrow"  for  Mm  to  appreciate  these  new 
ideas.  His  general  attitude  is,  therefore,  not  so  much  one  of 
"doubting  between  belief  and  grimace",  as  of  indifference  and  in- 
appreciation. 

To  one  "who  examines  historically  the  movements  of  imagina- 
tion" this  entire  group  of  transition  poets  will  illustrate  the 
"strange  contradictions  of  human  nature".  Living  under  the 
power  of  the  new  forces  they  wrote  for  the  most  part  out  of  an 
earlier  experience;  they  still  dwelt  in  imagination  among  the  idols 
which  were  fast  being  cast  down,  by  the  new  philosophy.  And 
they  were  neither  consistently  faithful  to  the  old  nor  courageously 
true  to  the  new.  In  them  imagination  had  not  yet  overtaken 
reason,  and  scientific  facts  came  to  them  unwarmed  with  poetic 
emotion.  'The  bare  framework  of  formulae  had  not  yet  gathered 
round  it  the  necessary  associations'  for  a  direct  expression  of  their 
feelings  in  terms  of  the  new  science.^*  Milton  alone,  even  in  his 
blindness  and  equivocation,  found  the  broadened  horizon  of  the 
new  astronomy.  For  the  rest,  they  were  either  indifferent,  unin- 
spired or  inconsistent. 

Some  mention  should  be  made  of  the  attitude  of  Thomas  Hobbes 
before  passing  from  the  poets  to  the  sharp  critical  struggles  which 
the  new  philosophy  had  with  "the  traditions  of  ancient  faith". 
He  should  have  been  a  good  friend  and  well-wisher  of  the  new 
science  for  this  polemical  philosopher,  trained  in  the  new  method 
under  Lord  Bacon,  was  imbued  with  its  spirit.    But  he  failed  to 

**  The  State  of  Innocence,  and  the  Fall  of  Man,  Act  II,  sc.  1. 
*♦  Stephens,  Leslie,  History  of  Eng.  Thought,  vol.  I,  p.   15. 


46  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

keep  step  with  the  progress  of  the  men  at  Gresham  College.  In 
consequence,  he  put  up  a  man  of  straw,  "vain  Philosophy,"  to 
serve  as  his  antagonist.  This  "vain  Philosophy"  he  confused 
with  the  Aristotelianism  of  his  own  university  days.  "Since  the 
Autliority  of  Aristotle  is  only  current  there, ' '  he  says  of  Oxford  in 
The  Leviathan,  "that  study  is  not  properly  Philosophy  (the  Nature 
whereof  dependeth  not  on  Authors)  but  Aristotelity".^^  But  he 
had  never  read  those  valiant  words  of  a  new  philosopher, — "No 
principles  are  received  as  cogent,  no  principles  allowed  as  current, 
but  what  in  themselves  are  intelligible".  He  had  only  recently 
come  under  the  fascination  of  mathematics.  * '  Hobbes  never  opened 
Euclid  until  he  was  past  forty.  When  he  was  at  Oxford,  Geometry 
made  no  part  of  a  student's  training".^®  Remembering  the  uni- 
versities as  they  were  in  his  youth,  and  unaware  that  Oxford  had 
outstripped  him  in  scientific  progress,  he  launched  his  criticism 
against  a  curriculum  that  had  no  mathematics  in  it,  against  an 
attitude  that  regarded  this  study  as  an  "Art  Diabolicall".  But 
his  criticism  was  late  in  coming;  as  for  mathematics,  Wallis,  upon 
whom  Hobbes  later  concentrated  his  hostility,  was  a  far  superior 
mathematician  to  that  philosopher  himself.  When  Wallis  showed 
him  his  mistake  in  this  matter,  Hobbes  continued  his  opposition 
through  wounded  pride.  Wallis  had  also  shown  the  absurdity  of 
Hobbes 's  attempts  to  square  the  circle  and  to  find  a  quadrature  for 
the  cube.^^  The  criticisms  that  Hobbes  had  to  make  were,  therefore, 
due  at  first  to  ignorance  and  at  last  found  support  in  perversity. 

The  task  of  writing  the  historical  defence  of  the  new  science 
fell  upon  Bishop  Sprat.  The  result  of  his  efforts  to  perform  this 
task  was  his  History  of  the  Boyal  Society  (1667).  He  divided 
the  book  into  three  parts;  the  first  giving  only  the  origin  and  de- 
velopment of  the  Society  up  to  the  date  of  writing,  the  second  de- 
voted to  the  achievements  of  the  virtuosi,  and  the  third  serving  as 
a  defense  of  the  new  philosophy. ^^  In  this  defense  the  author 
discussed  the  various  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the  new  study. 
The  last  of  these  benefits  from  experiments  "is  that  their  dis- 

*•  Leviathan,  p.  496. 

«•  Traill,   H.  D.,   Social  England,  vol.  VI,  p.   79. 

f"  Phil.  Trans.  Mar.  16,  1668;  Apr.  13,  1668;  Feb.  16,  1669;  June  21,  1669; 
Jan.  17,  1670. 

^History  of  B.  S.,  pp.   323,   413,   417. 


THE   CONFLICT  OF   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  47 

coveries  will  be  very  serviceable  to  the  "Wits  and  Writers  of  this, 
and  all  future  Ages There  is  in  Nature  such  an  inexhausti- 
ble treasure  of  Fancy,  and  Imagination,  which  will  be  revealed  pro- 
portionately to  the  increase  of  their  Knowledge".^® 

The  Bishop  is  particularly  anxious  to  secure  the  good  will  of 
the  "Wits  and  Railleurs",  for  these,  he  thinks,  can  do  more  in- 
jury to  the  new  cause  than  all  the  other  detractors.  His  plea  runs 
thus :  '  In  the  material  of  experiments  and  consequent  discoveries 
lies  'the  most  fertile  subject  of  Fancy'.  This  new  material  is 
sorely  needed,  because  the  old  virtues  and  qualities  of  things  'have 
long  borne  the  burden  alone,  and  have  bin  vex'd  by  the  imagination 
of  the  Poets'.  The  imagery  of  the  new  science  'will  make  the 
most  vigorous  impression  on  ]\Ien's  Fancies,  because  they  do  even 
touch  their  Eyes,  and  are  nearest  to  their  Nature.  Of  these  the 
Variety  will  be  infinite,  for  the  particulars  are  so,  from  whence 
they  may  be  deduced.  They  may  be  always  new  and  unsullied, 
seeing  there  is  such  a  vast  number  of  Natural  and  Mechanical 
things,  not  yet  fully  known  or  improv'd,  and  by  consequence  not 
yet  sufficiently  apply 'd'.^"  Furthermore,  he  declares  that  "the 
English  Tongue,  as  it  contains  a  greater  stock  of  Natural  and 
Mechanical  Discoveries,  so  it  is  also  more  enrich 'd  with  beautiful 
Conceptions,  and  inimitable  Similitudes  gather 'd  from  the  Arts 
of  Man's  hands,  and  the  works  of  Nature,  than  ever  any  Language 
could  produce".®^  And,  finally,  as  an  example  of  what  the  new 
scientific  study  of  nature  will  do  for  the  style  of  a  literary  man, 
Sprat  cites  Sir  Francis  Bacon.  "The  use  of  Experiments  to  this 
purpose  is  evident  by  the  wonderful  advantage  that  my  Lord 
Bacon  received  from  them.  This  excellent  Writer  was  abund- 
antly recompensed  for  his  noble  Labours  in  that  Philosophy,  by  a 
vast  treasure  of  admirable  Imaginations  which  it  afforded  him, 
wherewith  to  express  and  adorn  his  thoughts  about  other  mat- 
ters ".^^ 

This  appeal  is  strong  and  sensible,  and  later  writers  have  dem- 

8»Ibid.  p.  417. 

^  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  p.  416. 

"Ibid.  p.  417. 

»2Ibid.  p.  416. 


48  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

onstrated  the  truth  of  his  position.  But  Sprat  himself,  as  a 
writer  of  verse,  failed  to  bring  his  precepts  into  practice.  His 
principles  condemn  his  own  poetry.  The  only  reference  to  the 
material  of  the  new  science  are  found  in  his  poems,  To  the  Lord 
Protector,  and  To  Abraham  Coivley.  These  lines,  even,  are  filled 
with  the  imagery  of  the  old  Ptolemaic  cosmology,^^  the  imagery 
of  astrology,  and  medical  superstitions.***  The  music  of  the  spheres 
sounds  on  through  his  verse,  in  spite  of  Copernicus  and  Galileo.^^ 
He  had  written  against  the  belief  in  witches  and  fairies, — "the 
course  of  Things  goes  quietly  along,  in  its  own  true  channel  of 
Natural  Causes  and  Effects,  for  this  we  are  beholden  to  Ex- 
periments".^^ And  yet,  as  a  poet,  he  made  use  of  sympathetic 
powder^^  and  judicial  astrology.^^  In  brief,  there  is  in  Sprat 's  verse 
no  use  of  the  new  material  of  scientific  experiments  and  discoveries. 
When  he  wrote  theory,  he  was  sane  and  intelligible,  and  progres- 
sive ;  when  he  turned  poet,  he  forgot  his  owti  doctrine.  His  theory 
was  sound,  but  he  brought  nothing  to  practice. 

In  Sprat's  History  of  the  Royal  Society  is  to  be  found  the  first 
evidence  of  the  rising  tide  of  opposition  against  which  the  new 
philosophy  was  destined  to  struggle  for  forty  years.  The  new 
science  fosters  scepticism  and  nurtures  atheism,  said  the  church- 
men; it  is  not  in  harmony  with  Plato  and  Aristotle,  said  the  phil- 
osophers; it  is  a  foolish  humor,  said  the  wits.  To  each  of  these 
Sprat  makes  reply.  The  last  objection  only  has  been  discussed 
here,  because  the  others  appear  later  on.  In  his  effort  to  propitiate 
the  "Wits  and  Railleurs",  Sprat  has  presented  a  remarkable 
example  of  how  advanced  a  man  may  be  in  theory  without  bring- 
ing it  to  practice.  In  literary  theory  he  anticipated  the  late 
eighteenth  century  poets;  in  poetic  practice  he  belonged  to  the 
second  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

While  it  is  true,  through  these  years,  that  "philosophy  was 
preoccupied  with  the  problem  of  differentiation  of  science  from 

"  To   Abraham   Cowley,    st.    IX. 

•^Ibid. 

"•To  the  Lord  Protector,  st.  III. 

••  To  Abraham  Cowley,  st.  IX. 

*»  To   Abraham   Cowley,   st.   VI,    st.    II. 

0^  History  of  the  R.  S.,  p.  340-1. 


THE   CONFLICT   OF   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  49 

theology ",®®  yet  it  was  inevitable  that  the  search  for  natural  causes 
should  arouse  controversy  among  the  clergy.  One  man  of  this 
period  stood  as  the  central  figure  in  such  an  extended  controversy. 
It  partook  of  the  character  of  theology,^""  of  philosophy,  and  of 
science,  but  belongs  here  because  it  found  literary  expression  in 
the  work  of  Joseph  Glanvil,  who  has  been  more  nearly  forgotten 
than  he  deserves.  As  the  result  of  an  essay — Scepsis  Scientifica, 
1665 — which  is  a  fairly  clear  exposition  of  the  ''wary  and  circum- 
spect" attitude  of  the  new  philosophers,  he  was  elected  Fellow  of 
the  Royal  Society.  "The  Lord  Brereton  presented  a  book  written 
by  Joseph  Glanvil,  M.  A.,  and  entitled  Scepsis  Scientifica,  dedi- 
cated to  the  Royal  Society,  the  dedication  of  which  was  read. 
Mr.  Glanvil  was  proposed  as  a  candidate  by  Lord  Brereton  ".^°^ 
And  thus  another  man  with  literary  bent  and  with  a  keen,  im- 
aginative mind  was  brought  into  direct  contact  with  the  new  ideas. 
In  his  case  it  proved  to  be  a  stimulating,  if  not  inspiring,  experi- 
ence, and  quickened  many  a  page  of  his  philosophy.  He  seemed 
to  feel  that  the  mantle  of  Lord  Verulam  had  fallen  upon  him 
and  that  he  was  called  to  complete  the  fragmentary  New  Atlan- 
tis.^^^  He  became,  like^^dse,  a  staunch  defender  of  the  Royal 
Society  against  the  venomous  attacks  of  Dr.  Stubbe,  the  hireling 
of  Robert  Grosse,  sometime  Oxford  Fellow  and  upholder  of  Aris- 
totelianism.^°^ 

In  all  of  this  Glanvil  was  a  thoroughgoing  new  philosopher; 
but  it  is  in  the  controversy  concerning  witchcraft  that  he  repre- 
sents the  conflict  between  the  old  and  the  new  ideas.  He  believed 
in  witchcraft  and  undertook  to  explain  it  on  a  scientific  basis. 
In  this  struggle  he  joined  forces  with  Henry  More,  the  Cambridge 
Platonist.  As  Mr.  Greenslet  says, — "In  matters  of  witchcraft 
Glanvil  and  ]\Iore  hunted  in  couples  ".^^*  The  new  science  had  put 
the  long-accepted  belief  on  the  defensive,  and  Glanvil's  problem 

**  Seth,  James,  English  Philosophers,  p.   17. 

lO"  Birch,  Thomas,  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  p.  500. 

""  There  is  an  alluring  field  of  investigation  in  the  contribution  of  the  new  science 
to  rational  theology  and  to  18th  century  philosophy.  Of.  Seth,  English  Philosophers, 
Stephens,  History  of  English  Thought,  Remusat,  Histoire  de  la  Philosophie  en  Angleterre, 
Tulloch,  Rational  Theology,  etc. 

*"*  Essay  VII,  Anti- fanatical  Religion  and  Free  PhUoaophy. 

i«  Greenslet,  P.,  Joseph  Glanvil,  p.  77  8. 

^o^Ibid.  p.   154. 


50  THE   NEW   SCIENCE   AND   ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

was  to  reconcile  that  belief  with  the  new  demand  for  a  reasonable 
and  natural  explanation,  and  at  the  same  time  keep  in  harmony 
with  orthodox  theology.  Writing  in  the  language  of  the  new 
philosophy  and  especially  of  Descartes,  he  declared  that  "the  best 
way  to  attain  true  knowledge  is  to  suspend  the  giving  our  con- 
firmed assent  to  those  Receptions,  till  we  have  looked  them  over 
by  an  impartial  inquiry;  to  reckon  of  them  all  as  false,  or  uncer- 
tain, till  we  have  examined  them  by  a  free  and  unpossest  Reason; 
and  to  admit  nothing  but  what  we  see  clearly  and  distinctly  per- 
ceive.""^ This  is  in  perfect  accord  with  the  "free  philosophy" 
of  the  time;  a  "free  and  unpossest  Reason"  in  search  of  truth  in 
natural  phenomena  was  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  new 
science.  This  principle  guided  Glanvil  confidently  on  to  a  cer- 
tain point,  where  it  met  its  old  enemies,  accepted  beliefs  and  in- 
herited prejudices.  Further  than  this  Glanvil's  mind  could  not 
go.  That  point  marked  the  dividing  line  between  the  free  play 
of  "unpossest  Reason"  and  theological  faith.  "Now  after  all 
this,  it  will  be  requisite  for  me  to  add,  that  I  intend  not  these 
Remarques  in  favor  of  any  Conceits  in  Theology,  to  gain  Credit  to 
such  by  disparaging  Antiquity;  No,  here  the  old  Paths  are  un- 
doubtedly best,  quod  verum  id  prius:  And  I  put  as  much  differ- 
ence between  the  pretended  New  Lights,  and  old  Truths,  as  I 
do  between  the  Sun  and  an  Evanid  Meteor;  Though  I  confess,  in 
Philosophy  I  am  a  seeker"."*'  But  a  seeker  who  blind-folds  him- 
self before  he  begins  an  investigation  of  certain  problems  will  sure- 
ly break  his  shins  upon  some  sharp-cornered  inconsistency.  And 
so  it  was  with  Glanvil. 

In  Essay  VI,  Upon  Witches  and  Apparitions,  he  prefaced  the 
whole  discussion  by  a  statement  of  his  attitude  that  virtually  begged 
the  question,  and  was  certainly  inconsistent  with  his  "vanity  of 
dogmatizing".  "If  anything  were  to  be  much  admired  in  an  Age 
of  "Wonders,  not  only  of  Nature,  (which  is  a  constant  Prodigy) 
but  of  men  and  manners;  it  would  be  to  me  matter  of  astonish- 
ment, that  men,  otherwise  witty  and  ingenious,  are  fallen  into  the 
Conceit  that  there's  no  such  thing  as  a  Witch  or  Apparition,  but 
that  these  are  creatures  of  Melancholy  and  Superstition,  fostered  by 

^'^  Essay  I,  p.  22. 
^o»  Essay  I,  p.  28. 


THE  CONFLICT  OF  OLD  AND  NEW  IDEAS  51 

Ignorance  and  Design",""  Once  haAdng  espoused  the  belief  it 
behooved  him  to  establish  it  by  scientific  argument  and  by  facts. 
This  he  endeavored  to  do  by  "evidence  of  authority  and  sense". 
The  essay,  which  was  later  expanded  into  the  book  entitled  Sad- 
ducismus  Triumphatus  (1681),  contains  a  number  of  stories  of 
witchcraft,  the  most  famous  of  which  is  The  Demon  of  Tedworth}^^ 
There  is  no  need  to  review  the  arguments  here.  The  import- 
ant point  is  to  note  the  rise  of  the  controversy,  this  final  struggle 
between  the  accepted  belief  and  the  scepticism  of  the  new  science. 
This  literary  virtuoso  employed  his  best  talent  in  the  defence  of 
the  old.  He  was  a  gifted  man,  who,  -vsdth  all  his  acumen  and  often 
far-sighted  imagination,  yet  yielded  obeisance  to  this  figment  of 
melancholy  and  superstition.  Among  the  numerous  essays  against 
the  belief,  only  two  will  be  mentioned  here.  One  was  by  John 
Webster, — Displaying  of  Supposed  Witchcraft,  1676, — which 
called  forth  an  answer  by  Glanvil  and  Henry  More  (Sadducismiis 
Triumphatus).  "Webster  declared  that  all  witchcraft  was  founded 
on  imagination,"^ — a  view  presented  before  the  Royal  Society."'' 
The  detailed  answer  was  written  by  Glanvil,  but  he  died  before 
its  publication.  The  Controversy  did  not  cease,  however,  with 
Glanvil's  death,  (1680),  for  neither  side  would  yield.  "At  least 
thirteen  books  in  defence  of  the  belief  w^ere  published  between 
1680  and  1718,  but  they  were  powerless  to  check  the  sceptical 
tendency.  Among  these  writers  Glanvil  was  regarded  as  the  great 
authority  of  their  subject"."^  Finally,  in  1718,  Dr.  Francis  Hutch- 
inson wrote  An  Historical  Essay  Concerning  Witchcraft,  which 
silenced,  if  it  did  not  convince,  the  defenders  of  the  belief.  It 
was  his  judgment, — ^it  was  undoubtedly  sound — ,that  the  Royal 
Society  was  the  most  potent  cause  of  the  decline  of  the  supersti- 
tion."- The  effect  of  this  essay  is  illustrated  in  the  different 
attitudes  in  Addison's  De  Coverley  Papers  (1710)  and  The  Drum- 
mer (1715)  and  of  De  Foe's  Satiric  History  of  the  Devil  (1726), 

^'"  Essay  VI,  p.   1. 

"*  Essay  VI,  p.  23.     Of.  also  Addison's  The  Drummer. 

"*  Webster,   John,  Displaying  of  Supposed   Witchcraft,  p.  34. 

"op/iiV.  Trans.  June-Aug.,   1687. 

"11  Greenslet,  F.,  Joseph  GlanvU,  p.  173. 

"2  Ibid.  p.   174. 


52  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

But  here  our  interest  ends,  for,  though  private  belief  may  long  have 
continued,"^  there  was  a  virtual  victory  for  scientific  scepticism. 

This  controversy  shows  the  limitations  of  Glanvil's  mind,  but 
within  his  field  of  appreciation  he  had  remarkable  power.  Far 
beyond  any  of  the  contemporary  poets  is  Glanvil's  use  of  the 
inventions  and  discoveries  of  the  new  science  for  imaginative  ma- 
terial. "The  world  of  God,  no  doubt,  is  another  thing,  than  the 
world  of  sense  is ;  and  we  can  judge  but  little  of  its  amplitude  and 
glory  by  the  imperfect  idea  we  have  of  it.  From  this  narrowness 
of  our  senses  it  is,  that  we  have  been  so  long  ignorant  of  a  world 
of  Animals  that  are  with  us,  and  about  us,  which  now  at  last  the 
Glasses,  that  in  part  cure  this  Imperfection  have  discovered;  and 
no  doubt,  there  is  yet  a  great  variety  of  living  Creatures  that  our 
best  Instruments  are  too  gross  to  disclose;  There  is  prodigious 
fineness  and  subtilty  in  the  Works  of  Nature;  And  sometimes  I 
fear  that  we  scarce  yet  see  anything  as  it  is".^^*  And  the  "seeker 
in  Philosophy"  spoke  forth  with  valiant  courage  in  defiance  of 
ancient  authority  in  these  words;  "  'Twas  never  a  Heresie  to  out- 
limn  Apelles;  or  to  out- work  the  Obelisks;  Galileo  without  Crime, 
out-saw  all  Antiquity,  and  was  not  afraid  to  believe  his  Eyes,  in 
reverence  to  Aristotle  and  Ptolemy.  'Tis  no  disparagement  to 
those  famous  Optick  Glasses  that  the  Ancients  never  us'd  them, 
nor  are  we  shy  of  their  Information,  because  they  were  hid  from 
the  Ages.  We  believe  the  polar  virtues  of  the  loadstone  without 
certificate  from  the  days  of  old,  and  do  not  confine  ourselves  to 
the  sole  conduct  of  the  stars,  for  fear  of  being  wiser  than  our 
Fathers  ".^^5 

There  is  no  well-constructed  system  in  Glanvil's  scientific  ideas. 
Nor  is  there  reason  for  wonder  at  this,  even  when  his  clear  mind 
and  sane  judgment  are  known.  He  lived  in  a  period  of  transi- 
tion when  an  old  system  was  crumbling  and  a  new  one  was  just 
floating  into  definition.  Glanvil  is  at  a  stand  about  the  movement 
of  the  earth,  for  the  great  Newton  had  not  yet  spoken;  but  his 
mind  was  open  to  conviction  and  ready  to  receive  the  demonstra- 
tion of  new  ideas.     When  a  man  admits  a  grave  doubt  he  cannot 

*■*  John  Wesley   and  Samuel  Johnson  are  said  to  have  believed   in  witches. 
^^*Eesay  I,  p.  17. 
^^^  Essay  I,  p.  26. 


THE   CONFLICT   OF   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  53 

construct  a  coherent  system.  "The  gradual  ebbing  of  an  ancient 
faith  leaves  a  painful  discord  between  the  imagination  and  the 
reason".^^^  Glanvil  should  not,  therefore,  be  discredited  because 
of  his  inability  to  be  consistent.  His  great  literary  achievement 
was  that  in  the  midst  of  this  "imperfect  fusion  of  experiment  and 
dreaming"  his  mind  could  give  life  to  the  dry  bones  of  scientific 
facts  and  formulae.  This  man  had  the  prophetic  vision  inspired 
by  the  possibilities  in  science.  "I  dare  not  therefore  mention  our 
greatest  hopes;  but  this  I  will  adventure,  That  'tis  not  unlikely 
but  Posterity  may  by  those  Tubes,  when  they  are  brought  to  higher 
degrees  of  perfection,  find  a  sure  way  to  determine  those  mighty 
questions:  Wliether  the  Earth  moves?  or,  the  Planets  are  in- 
habited? And  who  knows  which  way  Conclusions  may  fall?""^ 
The  glimpse  he  had  caught  of  the  "constant  Prodigy"  of  nature 
had  forced  upon  him  the  realization  of  the  narrow  bounds  of  man's 
real  knowledge.  "And  when  I  look  back  upon  the  Main  Subject 
of  these  papers,  it  appears  so  vast  to  my  Thoughts,  that  me-thinks 
I  have  drawn  but  a  cockle-shell  of  water  from  the  ocean;  What- 
ever I  look  upon,  within  the  Amplitude  of  Heaven  and  Earth,  is 
evidence  of  Human  Ignorance:  For  all  things  are  a  great  Dark- 
ness to  us,  and  we  are  to  ourselves;  the  plainest  things  are  ob- 
scure, as  the  most  confessedly  mysterious ;  and  the  plants  we  tread 
on  are  as  much  above  us  as  the  Stars  and  Heavens"."^  If  this  man 
had  been  a  poet,  he  would  have  entered  into  the  great  inheritance 
of  new  material  promised  by  Bishop  Sprat.  As  it  was,  Glanvil 
used  the  new  imagery  much  after  the  manner  of  Lord  Bacon,  and 
enriched  his  pages  with  new  and  vivid  similitudes. 

A  second  controversy,  that  grew  out  of  the  breaking  up  of  the 
old  system  and  that  found  literary  expression,  centres  in  the 
Sacred  Theory  of  Thomas  Burnet.  It  was  a  corollary  to  the  re- 
construction of  natural  history  that  an  inquiry  should  be  made  into 
the  harmony  between  the  accepted  notion  of  the  beginning  of  the 
world  and  the  experiences  through  which  it  passed,  and  the  new- 
found scientific  principles.  A  man  of  literary  genius  was  required 
to   give   expression   to   the   inquiry.     Thomas   Burnet  was   called 

""  Stephens,  Leslie,  History  of  English  Thought,  vol.  I,  p.  15. 
^'^^  Essay  I,   p.   20. 
^^»  Essay  III,  p.  24. 


54  THE    NEW   SCIENCE   AND   ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

to  this  service.  The  first  part  of  the  Sacred  Theory  appeared  in  a 
Latin  quarto,  1680,  and  was  commended  by  Charles  II.  In  1684 
an  English  folio  was  published  dedicated  to  the  King.  Nine  years 
later  the  second  part  came  out;  and  three  years  afterward  his 
Archaelogiae  PkilosopJiiae,  the  offspring  of  the  former  study,  satir- 
ized the  biblical  account  of  the  fall  of  man. 

Then  the  battle  was  on.  No  sooner  had  the  Sacred  Theory  been 
discovered  than  it  was  attacked.  Erasmus  Warren,  Rector  of 
Worlington  in  Suffolk,  wrote  the  first  criticism.  Burnet  answered ; 
Warren  fell  upon  the  theory  again,  adding  a  personal  attack; 
Burnet  retorted  in  kind.  In  1698  Dr.  Keill  wrote  an  essay  against 
the  Sacred  Theory,  to  which  Burnet  replied  in  A  Review,  etc.  At 
almost  the  same  time  Whiston's  Netu  Theory  of  the  Earth  was 
published  (1697),  Then  Blount  praised  Burnet's  work  in  his 
Oracles  of  Reason.  But  the  Bishop  thought  he  had  vindicated 
his  theory  and  was  afterwards  silent.  Dr.  Keill,  however,  wrote 
a  second  criticism  in  1734,  which  practically  refuted  the  entire 
hypothesis  upon  which  Burnet  had  built  his  wonderful  fabrication. 
These  "flytings"  are  all  far  inferior  to  the  Sacred  Theory  itself, 
with  which  this  discussion  is  to  deal.  It  may  be  noted  in  passing 
what  the  judgment  of  the  phlegmatic  scientists  was  upon  this 
book.  Dr.  Keill  claimed  "that  it  was  his  (Burnet's)  unhappiness 
to  begin  at  first  with  the  Cartesian  Philosophy,  and  not  having  a 
sufficient  Stock  of  Mathematical  and  Mechanical  Principles  to  ex- 
amine rightly,  he  rashly  believed  it,  and  thought  that  there  was 
but  little  skill  required  in  those  Sciences  to  become  a  Philosopher; 
and  therefore,  in  Imitation  of  Descartes,  he  could  undertake  to 
show  how  the  World  was  made,  a  task  too  great  even  for  a  Mathe- 
matician. "^^^  When  the  author  made  inquiry  of  Dr.  Flamstead 
as  to  his  opinion  of  the  Sacred  Theory  that  scientist's  laconic  reply 
was, — "There  goes  more  to  the  making  of  the  World  than  a  fine 
turned  Period".  "The  whole  Theory",  he  said,  could  be  over- 
thrown in  "one  sheet  of  paper ".^^°  The  written  page  does  not 
record  the  author's  answer. 

Burnet,  however,  was  a  writer  of  splendid  imagination  and 
possessed  of  a  power  of  vivid  description.     He  was  also  a  man  of 

^^  Sacred  Theory,  vol.  I,  Preface,  p.  XXXI. 
^Sacred  Theory,  vol.  I,  Preface,  p.  XXXI. 


THE   CONFLICT   OF   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  55 

considerable  classical  learning,  for  he  could  discuss  with  intelli- 
gence various  possible  renderings  of  Greek  and  Hebrew  passages  in 
the  Old  Testament.  His  scientific  knowledge  was  just  sufficient 
to  make  him  rush  in  where  Milton  feared  to  tread.  From  Des- 
cartes he  got  the  notion  of  the  "liquid  heavens  where  the  planets 
were  carried  about  the  sun  with  the  same  common  stream 'V^^ 
of  ' '  the  true  Principles  that  govern  Nature,  which  are  Geometrical 
and  Mechanical' V*'  of  the  various  spheres  of  homogeneous  mat- 
ter,^^^  of  matter  and  motion,"*  and  of  "plain  and  perspicuous 
style "."^  He  did  not  try  to  conceal  his  borrowings;  "an  eminent 
Philosopher  of  this  Age,  Monsieur  Des  Cartes,  hath  made  use  of 
the  like  Hypothesis".^-*'  He  had  followed  the  most  recent  astron- 
omical observations;"^  he  knew  the  latest  miscroscopical  investi- 
gations upon  the  circulation  of  the  blood  ;"^  he  was  acquainted 
with  the  recent  experiments  with  steam,  and  professed  to  have  a 
theory  of  his  own  regarding  it;"^  he  had  attained  to  the  new  con- 
ception of  the  infinite  dimensions  of  the  universe  and  the  compara- 
tive littleness  of  man;  he  knew  the  latest  geological  observations 
on  the  strata  of  rocks. ^•''*'  He  had  cast  aside  the  old  belief  respect- 
ing the  stars, — "It  is  full  Time  now  to  sweep  away  these  cobwebs 
of  Superstitions,  these  Relics  of  Paganism.  I  do  not  see  how  we 
are  any  more  concerned  in  the  Postures  of  the  Planets  than  in 
the  Postures  of  the  Clouds"."^ 

The  critics  of  the  Sacred  Theory  doubted  whether  Burnet  him- 
self really  believed  his  own  hypothesis.  In  answer  to  this  allega- 
tion the  Bishop  firmly  asserted  his  unswerving  allegiance  to  the 
cause.  "I  must  profess  my  Assent  to  the  Substance  of  that 
Theory ;  and  am  the  more  confirmed  in  it  by  the  "Weakness  and  In- 

"^  Sacred  Theory,  vol.  II,  p.  242. 
^^  Sacred  Theory,  vol.  II,  p.  37. 
^'^  Sacred  Theory,  vol.  I,  p.  403. 
"«Ibid.  vol.   I,   p.   68. 
"=  Ibid.  vol.   I,  p.   368. 
i^ilbid.  vol.  II,   Pref. 
i^Ibid.  vol.   I,  p.   140. 
««Ibid.  vol.  II,  p.   106. 
i^eibid.   vol.   I,   p.   401. 
ISO  Ibid.  vol.   I,  p.   125. 
"I  Ibid.  vol.  II,  p.   88. 


56  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

efficiency  of  these  Exceptions''/^^  But  the  question  of  its  validity- 
has  long  since  passed  and  its  influence  has  been  swallowed  up  in 
that  of  Paradise  Lost,  against  which  Huxley  found  it  necessary 
to  direct  his  attack  instead  of  against  the  Mosaic  account.  Here 
it  needs  only  to  be  pointed  out  that  another  literary  mind  has 
been  brought  into  close  contact  with  these  new  scientific  ideas; 
here  is  another  genius  who  has  devoted  his  energy  to  a  losing  cause, 
and  his  attempts  to  adjust  the  accepted  beliefs  to  the  new  knowl- 
edge, to  harmonize  the  "painful  discord"  between  imagination  and 
reason,  have  found  literary  expression. 

Burnet,  like  Glanvil,  found  new  possibilities  for  literary  ex- 
pression in  the  new  learning.  Frequently  he  was  as  sublime  as 
Milton  himself,  but  his  imagery  belonged  to  this  earth;  he  dealt 
with  the  "sublunary  world"  which  he  saw.  In  his  hypothesis  the 
earth  was  assumed  to  have  arisen  out  of  "original  chaos",  so  that 
he  could  keep  himself  firmly  planted  on  the  solid  ground.  He  at- 
tempted to  give  a  strictly  scientific  account,  ' '  always  guided  by  rea- 
g^jj"  133  g^^  there  were  certain  points  where  he  could  not  restrain 
his  aroused  imagination.  In  the  description  of  the  deluge  there  is 
such  a  passage ;  ' '  Thus  the  Flood  came  to  its  height ;  and  'tis  not 
easy  to  represent  to  ourselves  this  strange  Scene  of  Things,  when 
the  Deluge  was  in  its  Fury  and  Extremity;  when  the  Earth  was 
broken  and  swallowed  in  the  Abyss,  whose  raging  Waters  rose 
higher  than  the  Mountains,  and  fill'd  the  Air  with  broken  Waves, 
with  an  Unusual  Mist,  and  with  thick  Darkness,  so  as  Nature 
seem'd  to  be  in  a  second  Chaos;  and  upon  this  Chaos  did  ride 
the  distressed  Ark,  that  bore  the  small  remains  of  Mankind.  No 
sea  was  ever  so  tumultuous  as  this.  Nor  is  there  anything  in  pres- 
ent Nature  to  be  compared  with  the  Disorder  of  these  Waters; 
All  the  Poetry,  and  all  the  Hyperboles  that  are  used  in  the  Des- 
cription of  storms  and  raging  Seas,  were  literally  true  in  this,  if 
not  beneath  it."^'^* 

To  him  ' '  the  greatest  Objects  of  Nature  were  the  most  pleasing 
to  behold".  Next  to  the  great  concave  of  the  heavens,  "there  is 
nothing  that  I  look  upon  with  more  Pleasure  than  the  wide  Sea 

^'<^  Sacred  Theory,  vol.  II,  p.  440. 

i»Ibid.  vol.   I,  p.   122. 

^^  Sacred  Theory,  vol,  I,  p.   122. 


THE   CONFLICT   OF   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  57 

and  the  IMountains  of  the  Earth.  There  is  something  august  and 
stately  in  the  Air  of  those  things,  that  inspires  the  mind  with  great 
thoughts  and  Passions ".^''^  "See",  he  exclaims,  "How  scornfully 
they  look  down  upon  us,  and  bid  defiance  to  all  the  Elements; 
they  have  borne  the  Thunder  and  Lightning  of  Heaven,  and  all 
the  Artillery  of  the  Skies,  for  innumerable  Ages ;  and  do  not  fear 
the  crackling  of  thorns  and  shrubs  that  burn  at  their  Feet".^^" 
The  writer  of  this  passage  is  anticipating  the  poets  of  the  late 
Eighteenth  century  in  his  appreciation  of  the  grand  objects  of 
nature.  And  it  was  his  interest  in  scientific  observation  that  gave 
him  sufficient  familiarity  to  interpret  their  spirit.  For  Burnet 
the  sky,  the  sea  and  the  mountains  were  not  the  mere  tinsel  of 
poetic  adornment,  but  objects  of  reality  and  wonder  and  inspira- 
tion. Here  is  a  truly  literary  interpretation  of  new  scientific 
knowledge :  ' '  The  Continents  were  made  of  those  three  or  four 
primary  masses  into  which  the  falling  orb  of  the  Earth  was  divided ; 
but  the  Islands  were  made  of  the  Fractures  of  these,  and  broken 
off  by  the  Fall,  from  the  Skirts  and  Extremities  of  the  Conti- 
nents ".^^^  The  sea,  too,  had  its  inspiration  for  him.  "I  havp  ob- 
served in  many  places  a  Ridge  of  Mountains  some  Distance  from 
the  Sea,  and  a  Plain  from  their  Roots  to  the  Shore;  which  Plain 
no  doubt  was  formerly  covered  by  the  Sea,  bounded  against  those 
Hills  as  its  first  and  natural  Ramparts,  or  as  the  Ledge  or  Lips  of 
its  Yessel".^"®  This  is  a  successful  attempt  to  translate  into  in- 
telligible and  striking  imagery  his  scientific  idea.  One  may  smile 
at  his  antiquated  hypothesis, — that  the  Lord  threw  up  the  moun- 
tains in  a  haphazard  manner  for  men  to  wonder  at,  that  the  stars 
in  the  sky  were  more  orderly  before  the  fall  of  man,  that  the  earth 
before  the  flood  was  as  smooth  as  a  table, — ^but  one  must  admire  the 
\dgor  of  his  imagination  and  this  remarkably  successful  effort  to 
give  literary  life  to  a  scientific  discussion.  One  more  illustration 
will  suffice:  "If  we  should  suppose  the  Ocean  dry,  and  that  we 
looked  down  from  the  Top  of  some  high  Cloud  upon  the  empty 
Shell,  how  horribly  and  barbarously  would  it  look?  and  \Wtli  what 

i»Ibid.  vol.  I,  p.  105. 
"8  Ibid.  vol.  I,  p.  172. 
I*' Ibid.  vol.  I,  p.  170. 
^^  Sacred  Theory,  vol.  I,  p.  125. 


58  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

Amazement  should  we  see  it  under  us  like  an  open  Hell,  or  a  wide 
bottomless  Pit  ?  So  deep,  and  hollow,  and  vast ;  so  broken,  and  eon- 
fused,  so  every  way  deformed  and  monstrous.  This  would  ef- 
fectually waken  our  imagination,  and  make  us  enquire  how  such  a 
thing  came  in  Nature;  from  what  Causes,  by  what  Force  or  En- 
gines could  the  Earth  be  torn  in  this  prodigious  Manner?  Did 
they  dig  the  Sea  with  Spades  and  carry  out  the  Molds  in  Hand- 
baskets  r'^^^ 

Burnet  has  accomplished  these  things  in  his  futile  attempt  to 
found  a  new  system  on  the  fragments  of  the  old:  I.  He  has 
shown  that  new  scientific  facts  can  be  so  infused  with  imagination 
as  to  become  poetic.  2.  He  has  secured  the  effects  of  Miltonic 
and  Aeschylean  imagery  out  of  the  solid  material  of  this  world. 
3.  He  has  been  led  through  scientific  interest  to  observe  with  clear- 
ness and  enthusiasm  the  objects  of  nature. 

The  final  assault  upon  classical  authority  found  its  best  literary 
expression  in  Swift's  Tale  of  a  Tub  and  Battle  of  the  Books.  Here  ' 
again  the  quarrel  reached  far  beyond  the  new  science.  In  so  far, 
however,  as  the  ancient  scientists  are  defended  against  the  moderns 
we  are  concerned.  How  Wotton  persuaded  Dr.  Bentley  to  print 
his  Essay  on  PJiaJaris  as  an  appendix  to  his  own  Reflections  Upon 
Ancie7it  and  Modem  Learning  is  sufficiently  familiar.^*"  It  was  this 
that  precipitated  the  fight  for  supremacy  between  the  old  classical 
literature  and  the  modern.  But  another  quarrel  that  began  in 
France  between  Fontonelle  and  Perrault  on  the  one  hand  and 
Boileau  on  the  other"^  was  caught  up  in  England  by  Sir  William 
Temple,  who  published  in  1690,  among  other  miscellanies,  An 
Essay  Upon  Ancient  and  Modern  Learning.  One  part  of  this 
Essay  was  aimed  directly  against  the  claims  of  the  new  philoso- 
phers for  the  great  progress  of  modern  science  both  in  discoveries 
and  inventions,  and  particularly  against  their  bold  defiance  of 
ancient  authority.     To  this  Essay  William  Wotton  made  reply,    v 

^^Ibid.  vol.  I,  p.   163-4. 

"•>  Dyce,  Alex.,  Works  of  Richard  Bentley,  Preface. 

**i  See  Fontonelle  and  Perrault,  Biographie  universelle.  Here  belongs  that  remark- 
able man,  Pierre  Bayle,  with  his  Letter  (1682)  and  his  "Learned  notes"  in  the  Dictionary 
(1697).  The  Letter  begins  with  an  attack  on  Astrology,  but  quickly  passes  over  into 
Theology;  the  notes  are  a  "scientific  scrutiny"  of  history  and  classical  lore. — Elton, 
Oliver,  The  Augustan  Ages,  p.  24. 


THE  CONFLICT  OF  OLD  AND  NEW  IDEAS  59 

1697,  in  his  Reflections,  in  defense  of  the  Royal  Society  and  its 
work.  Temple  answered  at  once  with  Some  Thoughts  Upon  An- 
cient and  Modern  Learning.  Then  Dean  Swift's  satiric  master- 
pieces laughed  the  quarrel  away. 

Sir  William  Temple 's  position  can  be  stated  briefly ;  ' '  'Tis  very 
true  and  just,  all  that  is  said  of  the  mighty  Progress  that  learning 
and  Knowledge  have  made  in  these  "Western  Parts  of  Europe, 
within  these  hundred  and  fifty  years ".^*^  But,  "may  there  not 
have  been,  in  Greece  and  Italy  of  old,  such  Prodigies  of  Invention 
and  Learning  in  Philosophy,  ]\Iathematicks,  Physicks,  Oratory, 
Poetry,  that  none  has  ever  since  approached  them?"^*^  When  he 
had  surveyed  the  actual  achievements  of  the  modern  scientists,  he 
found  the  sum  total  to  be  nothing  great.  "There  is  nothing  new 
in  astronomy,  to  vie  with  the  ancients,  unless  it  be  the  Copernican 
System;  nor  in  Physiek,  unless  Harvey's  Circulation  of  the  Blood. 
But  whether  either  of  these  be  modern  Discoveries,  or  derived  from 
old  Fountains,  is  disputed ;  nay  it  is  so  too,  whether  they  are  true 
or  not;  for  though  Reason  may  seem  to  favour  them  more  than 
the  contrary  Opinions,  yet  sense  can  hardly  allow  them;  and  to 
satisfie  Mankind,  both  these  must  concur.  But  if  they  are  true, 
yet  these  two  great  Discoveries  have  made  no  change  in  the  Con- 
clusions of  Astronomy,  nor  in  the  Practice  of  Physiek,  and  so  have 
been  of  little  Use  to  the  World,  though  perhaps  of  much  Honour 
to  the  Authors".^"  "The  greatest  of  modern  Inventions  seem 
to  be  the  Load-Stone  and  Gunpowder"."^  The  Society  at  Gre- 
sham  College  had  been  led  into  all  sorts  of  vagaries  and  wild 
speculations, — "wondrous  Pretensions  and  Visions  of  Men". 
These  were; — "The  Universal  language,  the  Philosopher's  Stone, 
the  Transfusion  of  Blood,  the  universal  medicine,  the  art  of  flying, 
double-bottomed  ships,  the  virtues  of  'that  Noble  and  Necessary 
Juice  called  Spittle',  the  discoveries  of  new  worlds  in  the  plan- 
ets,"" the  cause  of  thunder  and  lightning,  the  motion  of  the  sun 
and  earth  "."^     After  this  scathing  arraignment  he  closed  with  the 

^*^  Essay  upon  Ancient  and  Modern  Learning,  Miscel.,   Pt.   II,   p.   36. 

»«  Ibid.  p.  33. 

^**  Etaay  Upon  Ancient  and  Modern  Learning,  Miscel.  II,  p.  42-3. 

^*^  Some  Thoughts,  pt.   Ill,  p.  255. 

"8  Ibid.  pt.   Ill,   p.   281-2. 

^'' Essay  Upon  Ancient  and  Modern  Learning,  pt.  II,  p.  52-3. 


60  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

query  which  the  new  philosophers  heard  many  times;  "What  has 
been  produced  for  the  Use,  Benefit,  or  Pleasure  of  Mankind,  by 
all  the  airy  Speculations?""^ 

The  whole  discussion  show^s,  on  the  part  of  the  writer,  merely 
a  superficial  knowledge  of  the  scientific  activities  of  the  day. 
Newton's  Discoveries  had  already  been  published,  yet  the  new 
worlds  of  the  telescope  and  the  microscope  were  veiled  to  Temple. 
Besides,  while  all  but  two  of  the  vagaries  he  mentioned — the  Phil- 
osopher's Stone  and  the  Universal  Medicine — had  been  discussed 
by  the  Royal  Society,  they  were  treated  merely  as  speculations  until 
demonstration  was  possible.  Temple  showed  no  appreciation  of 
the  famous  group  of  men  who  were  doing  such  important  things, 
even  while  he  wrote.  All  in  all  his  discussion  is  unfair,  prejudiced 
and  superficial. 

William  Wotton,  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  took  up  its 
defense  in  a  vigorous  reply  to  Temple.  He  explained  the  aims  and 
methods  of  the  scientists,  and  gave  an  account  of  the  discoveries 
and  the  inventions  they  had  made.  To  him  the  future  was  bright 
for  scientific  progress,  because  "the  Royal  Society  has  weathered 
the  rude  Attacks  of  such  sort  of  Adversaries  as  Stubbe,  who  en- 
deavored to  have  it  thought.  That  studying  of  Natural  Philosophy 
and  Mathematicks,  was  a  ready  Method  to  introduce  Scepticism 
at  least,  if  not  Atheism,  into  the  World;  Yet  the  sly  Insinuations 
of  the  Men  of  Wit,  that  no  great  Things  have  ever,  or  are  ever  like 
to  be  performed  by  the  Men  of  Gresham,  and  that  every  Man 
w'hom  they  call  a  Virtuoso,  must  needs  be  Sir  Nicholas  Gimcrack  ;^*' 
together  wdth  the  public  ridiculing  of  all  those  who  spend  their 
Time  and  Fortune  in  seeking  after  what  some  call  useless  Natural 
Rarities ".^^^  As  to  the  men  themselves,  he  thinks  "those  excellent 
Men  do  highly  deserve  Commendation  for  those  seemingly  useless 
Labours,  and  the  more  since  they  run  the  hazard  of  being  laughed 
at  by  Men  of  Wit  and  Satyr,  who  always  have  their  End,  if  they 
make  their  Readers  sport,  whether  the  thing  which  they  expose, 
deserves  to  be  ridiculed  or  not".^^^ 

»*«fi'om«  Thoughts,  pt.  Ill,  p.  281. 
»*»  Shadwell's  The  Virtuoso. 
"0  Wotton'8  Reflections,  p.  419. 
•"^Wotton's  Reflections-,  p.   274-5. 


TlfE   CONFLICT   OF   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  61 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  Swift  came  to  aid  his  friend,  Temple, 
with  his  satire  in  the  Tale  of  a  Txih,  and  the  Battle  of  the  Books. 
Once  again  scientific  learning  has  only  a  small  part  in  the  quarrel. 
To  Swift  it  was  a  personal  matter,  for  he  did  not  show  himself 
really  interested  in  the  struggle  to  maintain  classical  authority. 
His  actual  position,  as  nearly  as  it  can  be  ascertained,  is  summed 
up  in  this  sentence  from  the  essay,  The  Mechanical  Operations  of 
the  Spirit :  "  It  is  hard  to  assign  one  art  or  science  which  has  not 
annexed  to  it  some  fanatic  branch;  such  are,  the  philosopher's 
stone,  the  grand  elixir,  the  planetary  world,  the  squaring  of  the 
circle ".^^-  This  is  good  sense,  for  these  things  were  follies  even 
at  that  time  and  deserved  censure.  The  Tale  of  the  Tub  ridiculed 
Wotton  as  the  defender  of  these  absurd  claims.  "The  whole 
school  of  Greshamites  are  too  wild  in  their  claims",  says  Swift,  "the 
whole  realm  of  human  knowledge  is  too  broad  for  one  generation  to 
conquer.  Besides,  the  philosophers  are  working  at  foolish  things." 
The  new  discoveries  which  Swift  promised  his  readers  to  discuss 
are  these:  "My  new  help  for  smatterers  or  the  art  of  being  deep- 
learned  and  shallow  read.  A  curious  invention  about  mouse-traps. 
A  universal  rule  of  reason,  or  every  man  his  own  carver;  together 
with  a  most  useful  engine  for  catching  owls.  All  which  the 
judicious  readers  will  find  largely  treated  on  in  the  several  parts 
of  this  discussion."^"  The  best  word  that  he  had  for  Descartes  was 
that  he  had  been  chosen  as  chief  "in  the  academy  of  modern  Bed- 
lam". He  declared  Descartes 's  ambitions  to  be  that  he  "reckoned 
to  see  before  he  died,  the  sentiments  of  all  philosophers,  like  so  many 
lesser  stars  in  his  romantic  system,  wrapped  and  drawn  within  his 
own  vortex  ".^^*  But  this  is  not  a  worthy  criticism  of  that  philos- 
opher's theory,  nor  does  it  show  any  clear  understanding  of  it. 

In  the  Battle  of  the  Books  the  greatest  scene  is  a  description 
of  the  battle  itself.  Here  the  scientists  take  their  places  in  the 
battle  line.  "There  came  the  bowmen  (philosophers)  under  their 
valient  leaders,  Descartes,  Gassendi,  and  Hobbs;  whose  strength 
was  such  that  they  could  shoot  their  arrows  beyond  the  atmosphere, 

^^  Swift,  Jonathan,  The  Mechanical  Operations  of  the  Spirit,  (Everyman's  Edition, 
p.    172). 

'^^  The  Tale   of  the   Tub,    (Everyman's  Edition,   p.   108). 

1**  Ibid.  p.  107.     Repeated  in  the  Battle  of  the  Books,  p.   160. 


62  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

never  to  fall  down  again,  but  turn  like  that  of  Evander,  into  met- 
eors; or,  like  the  cannon  ball,  into  stars.  "^^-^  Paracelsus  led  the 
"stink-pot  flingers",  Harvey  the  dragoons,  Wilkins  the  "engin- 
ers".  The  victory  went  in  this  case  to  the  ancients.  "Homer 
slew  Wesley,  and  then  seized  Perrault  and  hurled  him  at  Fonton- 
elle,  killing  both,"^^*'  "Aristotle  let  fly  an  arrow  at  Bacon,  and 
missing  him,  pierced  the  eye  of  Descartes,  "^^^  The  whole  battle, 
however,  closed  in  a  draw,  but  the  advantage  had  all  been  on  the 
side  of  Temple  and  the  Ancients. 

This  heroic  burlesque  shows  what  the  layman  might  be  expected 
to  know  of  the  activities  in  science.  Swift,  in  his  early  years,  had 
expressed  a  great  admiration  for  scientific  research.  It  would 
seem  that  this  interest  might  have  led  him  to  considerable  knowl- 
edge of  the  new  experiments.  In  these  two  satires,  however,  where 
he  is  a  special  pleader,  only  the  most  obvious  things,  the  most  sen- 
sational things  are  mentioned.  He  made  the  most  of  the  satiric 
possibilities  in  the  sensational  claims  of  the  new  philosophers. 
But  of  the  real  workers,  of  Newton,  Boyle,  Hooke,  Halley,  Hans 
Sloane,  Ray,  Willughby, — ail  of  them  already  famous  English- 
men— he  makes  no  mention.  Of  the  great  accomplishments, — 
Boyle 's  law,  Newton 's  Gravitation  theory,  the  Copernican  system, 
the  revelations  of  the  microscope  and  the  telescope — he  is  either 
ignorant,  or  wilfully  omits  them. 

The  effect  of  these  satires  was  to  sweep  aside  this  vain  con- 
troversy. It  was  not  a  victory  for  Temple  and  the  Ancients,  nor 
did  it  leave  the  field  wholly  in  possession  of  the  Modems.  This 
result  was  just  what  Swift  must  have  desired:  He  had  defended 
Temple  and  had  shown  the  Moderns  the  unreasonable  lengths  to 
which  their  claims  had  gone. 

As  this  period  saw  the  defeat  of  witchcraft,  the  sweeping  away 
of  untenable  physical  hypotheses,  and  the  banishment  of  a  foolish 
reverence  for  antiquity,  so  it  beheld  the  downfall  of  "judicial 
astrology".  This  pseudo-science,  which  clung  like  a  parasite  to 
the  new  philosophy,  had  long  since  lost  prestige  among  the  leamed,^^' 

>WT/ie  Battle  of  the  Books   (Everyman's  Edition,  p.   155-6). 

««  Ibid.  p.  160. 

^  Ibid. 

"**  There  were  men,  of  course,  who  had  not  given  it  up  entirely;  for  example  John 
Dryden,  who  is  known  to  have  "inclined  to  a  belief  in  it".  For  the  famous  astrologers 
of  the  day  see  supra,  Chap.  I,  p.  20,  note. 


TIIE   CONFLICT   OP   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  63 

but  continued  to  hold  sway  over  the  ignorant  by  means  of  almanac- 
makers.  It  was  Dean  Swift,  the  man  who  defended  Temple  and 
the  Ancients,  that  gave  the  death  blow  to  this  false  doctrine  in  the 
so-called  Partridge  Papers.  This  famous  practical  joke  upon  Part- 
ridge is  too  well  known  to  need  extended  discussion.  It  may  be 
briefly  shown,  however,  that  it  was  a  part  of  the  struggle  for  the 
supremacy  of  reason  and  commonsense. 

Swift  defined  his  position  on  the  question  of  astrology  in  his 
Predictions  for  the  Year  1708.  "I  must  add  one  word  more:  I 
know  it  has  been  the  opinion  of  several  learned  persons,  who  think 
well  enough  of  the  true  art  of  astrology,  that  the  stars  do  incline, 
and  not  force  the  actions  or  wills  of  men;^^^  and  therefore, 
however,  I  may  proceed  by  right  rules,  yet  I  cannot  in  prudence  so 
confidently  assume  the  events  will  follow  exactly  as  I  predict 
them".^^°  He  then  predicted  among  other  things  the  death  of 
Partridge  "on  the  29th  of  March  next,  at  about  eleven  at  night,  of 
a  raging  fever ".^®^  This  trick  of  Swift's  caught  the  humor  of 
London;  the  wits  were  curious  to  see  Partridge  hoisted  with  his 
own  petard.  In  due  time  Partridge's  death  was  announced  in  a 
detailed  account  of  his  last  moments.  The  account  found  some 
credence  in  spite  of  Partridge's  vigorous  protest  that  "the  reports 
were  exaggerated". 

Almanac-making  did  not  cease  with  this  incident,  but  judicial 
astrology  became  a  laughing-stock  for  the  town.  Commonsense 
with  satiric  lance  had  driven  it  from  the  field,  so  that  it  was  hence- 
forth "pensioned  in  dotage"  among  all  those  who  pretended  to 
learning.     By  this  means  another  stronghold  was  taken  by  reason. 

This  survey  of  the  conflict  between  the  old  and  the  new  scientific 
ideas  has  been  made  by  an  examination  of  the  salient  examples. 
The  discussion  has  constantly  been  centred  upon  the  meeting  of 
imagination  and  science.  The  conflict  was  far  more  permeating 
than  that  reaching  into  religion,  moral  and  human  philosophy,  and 
politics.     Nor  did  the  conflict  cease  with  the  early  years  of  the 

*•*  Burton's  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  p.  I;   "They  incline  but  do  not  compel 
and  so   gently   incline   that   a  wise   man   may   resist   them.      .      .      .     They   rule   but   God 
rules  them."      Cf.   Browne's   Vulgar  Errors,   vol.   II,   p.   200;    "There   is   in   wise   men   a 
power  above  the  Stars." 

i««  Swift's  Works,  vol.  VIII,  p.  402-3. 

i«Ibid.  vol.  VIII,  p.  443-4. 


64  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

eighteenth  century,  for  new  ideas,  new  physical  conceptions  must 
fight  their  way  today.  But  this  transition  period  has  offered  such 
phenomena  as  can  be  duplicated  in  more  modern  times  only  by  the 
mid-years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  evolution  first  became 
a  revolutionizing  factor  in  human  thought.  The  new  ideas  were 
making  their  way  slowly  toward  an  adequate  literary  expression, 
and  toward  a  place  of  dignity  in  the  minds  of  thinking  men.  With 
the  last  years  of  the  seventeenth  century  there  came  a  scientist 
whose  genius  was  so  superior,  whose  character  was  so  irreproach- 
able that  all  he  did  and  all  he  said  Avas  looked  upon  with  interest 
and  attention.  Men  had  only  words  of  praise  for  Sir  Isaac  New- 
ton. 

Our  study  has  revealed  these  facts:  (1)  The  poets  of  the  transi- 
tion period,  who  were  brought  into  close  contact  with  the  new 
scientific  ideas,  such  as  Cowley,  Waller,  Denham,  and  Sprat,  were 
not  able  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  conventional,  outworn  imagery 
of  a  discarded  science.  The  influence  of  the  new  material  upon 
them  was  surprisingly  slight,  both  in  inspiration  and  imagery. 
However  much  these  men  might  support  the  new  philosophy  as 
thinkers,  as  poets  they  were  uniformly  of  an  earlier  period  of 
science.  (2)  In  Milton  was  found  the  great  scientific  evasion,  be- 
cause he  stood  in  doubt  at  the  parting  of  the  ways,  distrusting  the 
old  and  fearing  the  new.  He  was,  therefore,  forced  to  equivocate. 
Thus  far,  at  least,  he  was  a  man  of  his  period,  and  was  fettered  by 
the  transition.  (3)  Here,  too,  was  the  final  defeat  of  the  long- 
accepted  belief  in  witchcraft  and  sorcery  among  learned  men;  its 
last  defense  finding  expression  in  the  Avork  of  Joseph  Glanvil,  a 
man  of  unusually  clear  vision  and  sane  judgment,  and  imbued  with 
the  new  scientific  spirit,  but  limited  by  inherited  belief  and  super- 
stition. (4)  Likewise,  there  was  the  destruction  of  the  power  of 
ancient  classical  authority  and  a  triumph  for  a  "free  and  un- 
possest  Reason".  (5)  Old  false  hypotheses,  patched  up  with 
new  facts  but  dimly  understood,  were  fully  refuted,  as  in  the  case 
of  Thomas  Burnet.  It  was  in  this  destructive  process  that  the 
"wary  and  circumspect  disposition"  of  the  scientists  made  itself 
felt  most  powerfully.  (6)  The  pseudo-science  of  astrology  was 
laughed  to  scorn  by  Swift,  as  Ben  Jonson  had  earlier  served 
alchemy.     It  was  this  new  attitude  of  reason  and  commonsense 


THE   CONFLICT   OF   OLD   AND   NEW   IDEAS  65 

entering  into  all  the  avenues  of  life  that  made  men  ready  to  dis- 
card the  old  idols  and  the  "ancient  faith". 

Thus  far,  then,  the  men  of  imagination  who  had  the  best  oppor- 
tunity to  know  the  new  scientific  ideas,  with  the  exception  of 
Glanvil  and  Burnet,  show  a  general  lack  of  appreciation  of  them 
and  their  literary  possibilities.  INIilton,  indeed,  had  found  an 
infinite  universe  without  abandoning  the  old  science;  to  him  the 
world  had  become  a  speck  in  space  and  man  "an  atom  of  an  atom- 
world".  But  other  poets  had  followed  Hobbes's  dictum, — "the 
subject  of  poetry  is  not  natural  science  but  the  manners  of  men".^^^ 
The  day  had  not  yet  fully  dawned,  "when,  through  the  roof  of 
the  little  theatre  on  which  the  drama  of  man's  history  had  been 
enacted,  men  began  to  see  the  eternal  stars  shining  in  silent  con- 
tempt upon  their  petty  imaginings ",^^^  or  when  "they  began  to 
suspect  that  the  whole  scenery  was  but  a  fabric  Avoven  by  their  own 
imaginations".^^*  And,  finally,  imagination  had  not  yet  over- 
taken reason,  nor  had  the  ' '  framework  of  formulae  gathered  round 
it  the  necessary  associations"  for  a  direct  expression  of  emotion, 
without  the  aid  of  an  outworn  hypothesis. 

^"'Hobbes,  Thomas,  Letter  to  D'Avenant,  1650. 

1'^  Stephens,   Leslie,   History  of   18th   Century   Thought,   vol.   I,   p.   82. 

i«Ibid.  vol.  I,  p.  15. 


CHAPTER  III 

The  New  Science  and  Comedy 

The  new  science  did  not  escape  the  writers  of  comedy,  who  were 
constantly  looking  for  some  fresh,  unexplored  interest.  It  was, 
in  truth,  these  "Wits  and  Railleurs"  whom  the  virtuosi  feared 
most  of  all,  because  their  ridicule  was  more  difficult  to  combat 
than  the  serious,  but  definite,  opposition  of  others.  The  play- 
writers,  moreover,  were  not  careful,  nor,  indeed,  were  they  de- 
sirous, to  discriminate  between  true  science  and  pseudo-science. 
Satirists  do  not  look  for  the  strong  points  in  a  new  movement,  but 
for  its  weaknesses.  Almost  inevitably,  therefore,  the  new  phil- 
osophy would  be  held  responsible  for  all  the  absurd  things  done  in 
its  name ;  experimental  science  must  support  the  follies  and  chican- 
ery of  pseudo-science  and  superstition.  In  this  occult  science  there 
was  a  legitimate  field  for  satire,  because  the  whole  basis  was  false 
and  the  professors  of  it  were  charlatans  and  imposters.  The  comic 
spirit  had,  in  fact,  entered  the  field  of  occult  science  long  before  the 
organization  of  the  Royal  Society.  In  1610,  Ben  Jonson  had 
held  up  Subtle,  the  alchemist,  to  public  ridicule,  and  had  made 
men  ashamed  to  profess  this  "humour"  seriously.  But  the  new 
philosophy,  also,  was  opposed  to  such  false  pretentions ;  and,  while 
alchemy  continued,^  with  declining  power,  through  the  seventeenth 
century,  the  new  demand  of  experimental  science  for  natural 
causes  tended  to  destroy  the  foolish  hopes  of  turning  the  baser 
metals  into  gold  and  to  discourage  the  absurd  search  for  the  phil- 
osopher's stone.-  Subtle,  in  The  Alchemist,  could  not,  therefore,  be 
classed  among  the  new  Baconian  philosophers,  and  Ben  Jonson 's 
satire  was  not  pertinent  in  the  Restoration  period.^ 

With  astonishing  pertinacity  the  belief  in  witchcraft  and  sor- 
cery held  a  place  in  the  minds  of  men  and  found  defenders  even 
among  the  new  philosophers.  Bacon  had  early  attempted  to 
give  scientific  explanation  of  it;*  Boyle  confessed  his  faith  in  it;** 

'Of.  Ashmole's  Theatrum  Chymicum ;  also,  chap.  I,  p.   21. 
'  Boyle,  Sir  Robert,  Sceptical  Chymist. 

^  The  Alchemist  was  revived  in  1663,  Pepys  saw  it  in  1664,  August  3d.  It  re- 
appeared as  The  Empiric  in  1672. 

*  Traill,  H.  D.,  Social  England,  vol.  IV,  p.   87. 

*  Boyle,   VsefuUness  of  Experimental  Philosophy,  p.  238. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  67 

Glanvil  declared  that  to  doubt  it  was  the  first  step  toward  atheism.* 
This  connection  with  the  new  science  brings  the  satire  against  it 
within  the  scope  of  this  investigation.  "The  well-known  trials 
of  the  Lancashire  Witches  occurred  in  1613,  and  again  in  1634".'^ 
Comedy  immediately  took  up  the  subject.  Thomas  Heywood's 
play,  The  Lancashire  Witches,  appeared  in  1634,  satirizing  the 
trials ;  W.  Rowley  used  the  same  theme  in  his  Witch  of  Edmonton, 
1658.  Thomas  Shadwell,  in  1682,  presented  a  play  with  the  same 
title  as  Heywood's,  The  Lancashire  Witches,  in  which  an  in- 
genious use  is  made  of  the  power  of  witches  to  transform  individuals 
into  various  shapes.  There  is  no  satire  here,  but  in  the  introduc- 
tion Shadwell  wrote;.  "For  the  Magical  Part,  I  had  no  Hopes  of 

equalling  Shakespeare There  is  not  one  action  in  the  play, 

nay,  scarce  a  word  concerning  it,  but  is  borrowed  from  some  an- 
cient or  modern  Witchmonger,  which  you  will  find  in  the  Notes, 
wherein  I  have  presented  you  a  great  part  of  the  Doctrine  of 
Witchcraft,  believe  it  who  will.  For  my  part,  I  am  (as  it  is  said 
of  Surly  in  the  Alchemist)  somewhat  costive  of  Belief".®  The 
struggle  of  this  superstition  against  the  principles  of  the  new 
science  was  so  far  lost  in  1715  that  Addison  could  make  sport  of  it 
in  his  comedy.  The  Drummer,  where  the  secret  rapping  of  the 
spirit  of  the  departed  is  shown  to  have  a  very  natural,  flesh-and- 
blood  origin. 

Another  pseudo-science,  astrology,  found  many  believers 
through  the  seventeenth  century,  but  not  among  the  new  philoso- 
sphers.  For  them  the  telescope  had  so  far  removed  the  super- 
stitious awe  of  the  heavens  that  Thomas  Burnet  could  say,  1687, — 
"  I  do  not  see  how  we  are  any  more  concerned  in  the  Postures  of  the 
Planets  than  in  the  Postures  of  the  Clouds".^  Comedy  had  al- 
ready discovered  the  sham  and  pretense,  for  John  Wilson  satir- 
ized astrology  in  The  Cheats,  1662.  Mopus,  in  this  comedy,  is  an 
astrological  physician,  and  of  course  a  quack,  who  showed  himself 
of  "no  ordinary  learning"  in  an  advertisement  which  he  posted; 

"  Glanvil,  Joseph,  fiadducismus  Triumphatus. 

'  Traill,  H.  D.,  Social  England,  vol.  IV,  p.  86. 

*  Shadwell,   Thomas,  Dramatic   Works,  vol.   Ill,   preface  to   Lan.    Witches. 

»  Burnet,  Thomas,  Sacred  Theory,  vol.  II,  p.  38. 


68  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

"As  also  (to  let  the  world  see  how  wide  of  their  mark  they  are  like 
to  run  that  as  boldly  as  ignorantly  dare  adventure  on  physic  Avith- 
out  the  knowledge  of  astrology)  I  resolve  the  ensuing  astrological 
questions.  The  sick,  whether  they  shall  recover  or  not;  the  party 
absent,  whether  living  or  dead.  How  many  husbands  or  children 
a  woman  shall  have,  etc.  etc.,  (Signed)  A  servant  of  God,  and 
Secretary  of  Nature,  latros  latrophilus  Mopus".^°  This  character 
has  some  of  the  meaningless  jargon  that  imposed  upon  the  ignor- 
ant. To  him  a  watch  is  a  "trachleal  horodeixe",  an  inkstand  be- 
comes a  "ligneous  pixid  accommodated  with  two  plumbeous  re- 
cepticles  or  stormeous  repositories  for  ink  and  sand".^^  "  'Tis 
the  way  of  the  learned.  Term  is  three-quarters  of  the  Art".  The 
claims  of  his  ability  are  unlimited.  "I  wonder  my  boy  comes  not. 
I  have  sent  him  for  a  rosycrucian  preparation  has  fetcht  a  man 
again  after  he  has  been  dead  a  day  and  a  half  ".^^  Mopus  is  plain- 
ly intended  for  a  charlatan  of  the  worse  sort. 

John  Dryden  used  two  astrologers  most  cleverly  in  the  pro- 
logue to  The  Wild  Gallant  (1663),  to  forecast  the  success  of  the 
play.  Again,  taking  freely  of  foreign  material,  he  produced  his 
comic  situation  in  An  Evening's  Love  (1665)  by  means  of  a  "mock 
astrologer".  His  skillful  use  of  the  technical  terms  of  this  pseudo- 
science  caused  Sir  Walter  Scott  to  comment; — "Our  author's  use 
of  the  terms  and  technical  phrases  of  judicial  astronomy  intimate 
his  acquaintance  with  that  pretended  science,  in  which  he  is  known 
to  have  placed  some  confidence  ".^^  But  whatever  Dryden 's  pri- 
vate belief,  he  does  not  here  defend  or  satirize  this  pretended 
science,  nor  does  he  in  any  way  connect  it  with  the  new  science. 
The  author  knew  well  enough  that  astrological  studies  were  not 
pursued  by  the  members  of  the  Royal  Society. 

In  all  of  these  comedies  the  new  science  is  not  represented ;  nor 
in  any  instance  is  the  material  new  or  from  contemporary  English 
life.  The  interests  of  the  new  philosophers  lay  elsewhere,  and  only 
through  ignorance  of  their  designs  and  work  could  these  characters 
be  classed  with  them.     There  was  one  phase  of  their  interest,  how- 

"  Wilson,  John,  The  Cheats,  Act  III,  sc.  I. 

^Ibid.   Act  III,   sc.  4. 

"  Ibid.  Act  V,  EC.  4. 

"Dryden,  John,  Complete  Works,  Scott  and  Saintshurj/,  vol.  Ill,  p.  237-8. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  69 

ever,  that  had  been  alive  for  many  years  even  at  the  time  the 
Royal  Society  was  formed.  It  had  straightway  become  a  "hum- 
our" and  found  itself  represented  in  comedy  as  early  as  1641,  in 
Shackerley  IMarmion's  The  Antiquary}'^ 

Veterano,  the  Antiquary,  does  not  indeed  perform  experiments ; 
he  knows  nothing  of  such  modern  scientific  apparatus  as  the  tele- 
scope. He  embodies,  however,  the  wide-spread  interest  in  collect- 
ing "rarities".  As  has  been  sliown,  this  was  an  age  of  historical 
research;  "antiques",  ancient  and  modern,  suddenly  took  on  an 
enhanced  value.  The  wits  were  quick  to  see  the  possibilities  for 
comedy  here;  and,  since  the  new  philosophers  aided  and  abetted 
this  search  for  curiosities,  it  will  be  necessary  to  present  this 
early  antiquary  and  his  successors  somewhat  in  detail.  Veterano 
is  thus  characterized  by  his  nephew,  Lionel,  who  in  true  comic 
fashion  has  designs  on  the  old  man's  money, — "He  is  grown  obso- 
lete, and  'tis  time  he  were  out  of  date.  They  say  he  sits  all  day 
in  contemplation  of  a  statue  with  ne'er  a  nose,  and  doats  on  decays 
with  greater  love  than  the  self-loved  Narcissus  did  on  his  beauty  ".^^ 
Veterano  is  of  course  made  the  scapegoat  in  the  play.  Having 
been  tempted  to  drink  too  much,  he  lets  himself  be  dressed  as  a 
fool  and  thus  brought  before  the  Duke.  In  this  maudlin  condi- 
tion he  declares  the  breeches  he  wears  once  belonged  to  Pompey; 
the  hat  on  his  head  was  the  possession  of  Julius  Caesar;  the  spec- 
tacles astride  his  nose  were  worn  by  Hannibal  when  crossing  the 
Alps.  When  he  becomes  sober  enough  to  realize  the  ridiculousness 
of  his  garb,  he  is  mollified  only  by  the  assurance  that  the  fool's 
coat  "did  once  belong  unto  Pantabolus  the  Roman  Jester,  and 
buffoon  to  Augustus  Caesar".  False  antiques, — an  old  manu- 
script found  in  a  wall,  a  book  of  mathematics — are  palmed  off  on 
him  at  a  handsome  price.  In  his  "sacred  room"  are  found  "a 
portrait  of  the  sibyls",  Venus  and  Cupid  by  Appelles,  Hercules, 
Antaeus,  Pallas,  Jupiter,  "a  silver  box  that  Nero  kept  his  beard 
in ' ',  and  an  urn  containing  the  ashes  of  the  Emperors.  The  Duke, 
conniving  with  the  Antiquarian's  nephew,  declares  the  collection  of 
"rarities"  is  to  be  confiscated  because  their  value  is  such  that  no 
private  citizen  should  be  permitted  to  own  them.     Thereupon  Vet- 

"  Dramatists  of  the  Restoration,  vol.  I,   Shackerley  Marmion. 
»Act   I,    BC.    1. 


70  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

erano  in  despair  wills  his  property  to  Lionel.  He  is  altogether  a 
despicable  fool,  the  gull  and  dupe  of  everyone.  But  the  sharpest 
satire  underlies  this  dialogue  between  the  Antiquary  and  his  ser- 
vant Petro. — 

''Antiquary, — The  very  dust  that  cleaves  to  one  of  those  monu- 
ments, is  Avorth  more  than  the  ore  of  twenty  mines! 

Petro, — Yet,  by  your  favour,  Sir,  of  what  use  can  they  be  to 
you? 

Antiquary, — ^Wliat  use?  Did  not  the  Seigniory  build  a  State- 
chamber  for  antiquities?  And  'tis  the  best  thing  that  e'er  they 
did;  They  are  the  registers,  the  Chronicles  of  the  age  they  were 
made  in,  and  speak  the  truth  of  history  better  than  a  hundred  of 
your  printed  commentaries".^^ 

But  in  spite  of  such  ridicule  the  interest  in  antiquarianism,  as 
the  search  after  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  rarities  and  curiosities 
was  called,  increased  through  the  succeeding  years,  and  Veterano 
reappeared  under  the  name  of  Sir  Arthur  Oldlove  in  Durfey's 
comedy.  Madam  Fickle,  1677.  A  glimpse  into  Oldlove 's  relic 
room  is  given  in  this  play,  where  there  is  a  "table  with  a  skull, 
sword,  vial,  shooing  horn,  box,  and  picktooth".^^  The  skull, 
Oldlove  declares,  was  one  set  on  the  shoulders  of  St.  Gawain  of  the 
Round  Table;  the  sword  belonged  to  "Sir  Lancelot  du  Lake";  the 
* '  shooing  horn ' ',  the  very  first  ever  invented, ' '  was  left  by  the  Queen 
of  Sheba  in  Jerusalem  when  she  visited  Solomon";  the  box,  like 
Veterano 's,  contained  Nero's  beard;  the  vial  was  full  of  the  tears 
of  St.  Jerome.  The  dramatist  apparently  forgot  the  "picktooth", 
or  else  his  invention  failed  him. 

Here  is  a  full  grown  humor. 

"As  when  some  peculiar  quality 
Does  so  possess  a  man,  that  it  does  draw 
All  his  affects,  his  spirits,  and  his  powers 
In  their  confluctions,  all  to  run  one  way, 
This  may  be  truly  said  to  be  a  humour".^® 
So  it  is  with  Oldlove.     "Is  there  anything",  he  asks,  "more  pleas- 
ant than  antiquities?     The  Knowledge  of  the  distinction  of  the 

"  Madam  Fickle,  Act  II,  sc.   1. 

"  Ibid.  Act  III,  sc.   1. 

"  Jonson,   Ben,  Every  Man   Out   of  his  Humour,  Prologue. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  71 

Ages,  or  the  deeds  and  manners  of  the  Ancients,  I  say,  is  there 
anything  more  pleasant?".'"  "Rust  adds  to  Antiquity;  'tis  our 
Friend".-"  Nothing  that  is  new  can  please  him,  because  it  is 
new;  all  that  is  old  delights  him,  because  it  is  old. 

Years  afterward,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  this  character  came 
again  on  the  comic  stage.  The  antiquarian  interest  was  still 
alive,  so  that  the  "humor"  could  be  appreciated  by  the  audience. 
In  1773,  Foote  wrote  a  comedy  entitled  The  Nabob.  There  is 
presented,  in  Act  III,  a  meeting  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  at 
which  Sir  Matthew  Mite,  the  Nabob,  is  elected  president  because 
he  has  discovered  the  secret  meaning  of  "Worthington's  cat".^^ 
Sir  ]\Iatthew  is  merely  the  resurrected  Sir  Arthur  Oldlove  in  a 
new  comic  situation.  Once  more,  just  at  the  close  of  the  century, 
1798,  John  O'Keefe  presented  this  old-time  antiquarian  "humour" 
in  his  Modern  Antiques.  But  this  has  already  extended  far  beyond 
the  limits  of  our  period. 

Certain  common  characteristics  of  these  comic  representations 
are  to  be  noted.  In  the  first  place,  all  the  antiquaries  are  men 
of  wealth ;  Veterano  has  a  fortune  which  his  nephew  wants ;  Old- 
love  has  thousands  of  pounds  to  spend  for  rarities;  Sir  Matthew 
Mite  is  exceedingly  rich;  the  purchaser  of  "modern  antiques"  has 
only  a  fortune  to  recommend  him.  They  are  all  persons  of  noble 
rank,  or  pretend  to  be  so ;  Veterano  is  a  noble,  Oldlove  likewise ; 
Sir  Matthew  Mite  shams  nobility.  And,  in  point  of  fact,  the  anti- 
quarian interest  belonged  to  the  English  gentlemen,  for  they  alone 
had  time  to  pursue  it.  The  Society  of  Antiquaries  was  a  Gentle- 
men's club.  Furthermore,  there  is  constant  complaint  in  the 
comedies  that  much  money  is  wasted  in  these  investments  in  an- 
tiques, too  often  "modern  antique",  which  might  have  been  put 
to  better  use.  There  is  no  benefit  to  be  derived  from  such  pur- 
suits, those  unbitten  by  the  humor  declare,  either  to  the  collector 
himself  or  to  mankind.  They  could  not  be  expected  to  see  that 
this  spirit  of  inquiry,  carried  to  a  foolish  extent  in  many  cases 
certainly,  this  desire  to  collect  relics  of  a  by-gone  age  and  to  find 
a  means  of  classifying  them  so  as  to  interpret  that  former  life, 

^  Madam  Fickle,  Act  III,  sc.   1. 

20  Ibid. 

'1  It  means  a  cat-boat. 


72  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

would  lead  on  the  one  hand  to  the  writing  of  history  and  on  the 
other  liand  to  the  study  of  Botany,  Zoology  and  Geology.  To 
the  play-writers  tlie  search  for  old  manuscripts,  for  antiques  of 
literature,  for  art  relics,  for  old  coins,  was  only  a  transient  fad. 
In  reality  it  was  an  essential  part  of  the  new  scientific  movement 
whereby  the  natural  history  of  the  world  was  to  be  reconstructed. 
If  no  experiments  were  needed,  yet  careful  observation  was  re- 
quired, which  was  an  equal  part  of  the  Baconian  injunction.  The 
antiquarians  must  find  a  place,  therefore,  among  the  new  philoso- 
phers. 

But  the  first  real  virtuoso,  the  comic  archetype  of  the  "tribe", 
appeared  in  Thomas  Shadwell's  comedy.  The  Virtuoso,  1676. 
Langbaine  says, — "No  man  ever  undertook  to  discover  the  Frail- 
ties of  such  Pretenders  to  this  kind  of  Knowledge  before  Mr. 
Shadwell".  The  author  himself  lays  claim  to  originality  in  his 
characterization,  in  the  prologue. 

"In  this  are  Fools,  that  much  infest  the  town. 
Plenty  of  Fops,  Grievances  of  this  Age, 
Whose  nauseous  Figures  ne'er  were  on  the  stage. "-^ 
He  is  correct  so  far  as  purely  experimental  science  and  "Physico- 
Mechanical  Inventions"  are  concerned,  but  one  essential  phase  of 
the  new  scientific  interest  has  already  been  discovered.     Sir  Nicho- 
las Gimcrack  is,  however,  the  most  complete  comic  conception  of 
the  new  philosopher,  and  as  such  demands  full  consideration. 

This  virtuoso  is  without  honor  in  his  own  country;  his  friends 
and  relatives,  with  the  exception  of  his  admiring  wife,  do  not 
hold  him  in  esteem.  Snarl,  the  cynic,  says  of  him, — "My  nephew 
is  such  a  coxcomb,  he  has  study 'd  these  twenty  years  about  the 
nature  of  Lice,  Spiders,  and  Insects".'^  His  friend  Sir  Samuel 
Formal,  Rhetorician,  asserts, — "He  is  an  enemy  to  wit  as  all  Vir- 
tuoso's are".  Clarinda  calls  him  "a  sot  that  has  spent  £2000  in 
Microscopes,  to  find  out  the  Nature  of  Eels  in  Vinegar,  Mites 
in  Cheese,  and  the  Blue  of  Plums".  "One,  who  has  broken  his 
Brains,"  adds  Miranda,  "about  the  Nature  of  Maggots,  who  has 
study 'd  these  twenty  years  to  find  out  the  spots  of  a  Spider,  and 
never  cared  for  understanding  Mankind".     Longvil,  who  has  some 

^  The    Virtuoso,   Prologue. 
^The  Virtuoso,  Act  I,  bc.  1. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  73 

reason  to  denounce  him,  declares, — "I  would  rather  be  a  Trumpeter 
to  a  ]\Ionster,  and  call  the  Rabble  to  see  a  calf  with  six  Legs,  than 
such  a  Blockhead."  These  opinions  are  not  the  offspring  of  envy, 
for  Sir  Nicholas  has  aroused  no  jealousy  save  among  those  philoso- 
phers at  Gresham  College.  "The  College  indeed  refus'd  him; 
they  envy'd  him".-* 

The  occasion  of  this  general  contempt  becomes  obvious  when 
the  virtuoso  is  revealed  in  his  laboratory,  ''a  spacious  Room,  where 
all  his  Instruments  and  fine  Knick-knacks  are".-°  These  "fine 
Knick-knacks"  include  microscopes,  telescopes,  thermometers, 
barometers,  "pneumatick  Engynes",  "stentrophonical  Tubes", 
fragments  of  dead  insects  scattered  about,  and  special  colonies  of 
live  ones  in  a  corner.  Into  this  room  Shadwell  has  collected  all 
the  new  laboratory  apparatus  of  the  Royal  Society  which  he  knew, 
just  as  he  combined  all  its  interests  in  this  virtuoso.  "When  the 
scene  opens  Sir  Nicholas  is  in  the  midst  of  one  of  his  ridiculous 
experiments;  he  is  learning  to  swim  by  lying  on  the  table  and 
imitating  the  actions  of  a  frog  in  a  dish  of  water  in  front  of  him. 
"A  most  compendious  method",  announces  Sir  Formal,  "that  in 
a  fortnight,  has  advanced  him  to  be  the  best  swimmer  of  Europe. 
Nay,  it  were  possible  to  swim  with  any  fish  of  his  inches. ' '  But  it 
suddenly  occurs  to  Longvil  to  enquire, — "Have  you  ever  tried  in 
the  Water,  Sir?" 

Sir  Nicholas, — "No,  Sir,  But  I  swim  most  excellently  on  land", 

Bruce, — Do  you  intend  to  practice  in  the  Water,  Sir  ? 

Sir  Nicholas, — Never,  Sir,  I  hate  Water.  I  never  come  upon 
the  Water,  Sir. 

Longvil, — Then  there  will  be  no  use  of  swimming. 

Sir  Nicholas, — I  content  myself  with  the  speculative  Part  of 
Swimming.  I  care  not  for  the  practick.  I  seldom  bring  any- 
thing to  Use ;  'tis  not  my  Way.     Knowledge  is  ray  ultimate  End".^^ 

This  quip  at  the  close  is  the  sharpest  criticism  that  was  ever 
launched  at  the  devotees  of  the  new  experimental  science.  Again 
and  again  the  question  of  immediate  use  was  asked;  and  there  the 
defense  was  weakest.     The  microscope  and  the  telescope  had  re- 

2*  Ibid.   (Lady  Gimcrack). 

»  Ibid.  Act  II,  sc.  1. 

2«  The  Virluoao,  Act  II,  sc.   1. 


74  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

vealed  new  worlds;  there  were  everywhere  fresh  fields  of  investi- 
gation; the  minds  of  the  scientists  were  constantly  piqued  with 
curiosity ;  there  was  a  continued  search  for  some  new  thing ; — 
but,  naturally  enough,  thoughts  of  the  "Practick"  came  only  after 
curiosity  had  been  satisfied. 

The  next  experiment,  however,  was  one  to  appeal  to  the  imag- 
ination and  to  suggest  the  practical'  application  of  it.  In  the  trans- 
fusion of  blood,  which  Sir  Nicholas  has  brought  to  "the  Achme  of 
Perfection ' ',  the  most  extravagant  results  were  hoped  for.  Dreams 
of  eternal  youth  were  entertained ;  the  possibility  of  an  entire  trans- 
formation of  the  natural  characteristics  was  thought  to  have  been 
discovered.  Sir  Nicholas  had  transfused  the  blood  mutually  be- 
tween a  mangy  spaniel  and  a  sound  bull-dog,  "making  both  Ani- 
mals to  be  Emittent  and  Recipient  at  the  same  time".^^  The  effect 
was  astonishing;  not  only  did  the  spaniel  become  sound  and  the 
bull-dog  mangy,  but  also  the  spaniel  became  a  bull-dog  and  the 
bull-dog  a  spaniel.  The  recent  experiment  of  a  French  Academi- 
cian of  transfusing  the  blood  of  a  sheep  into  the  veins  of  a  madman 
fell  far  short  of  what  this  virtuoso  had  done.  His  patient  "from 
being  Maniacal,  or  raging,  became  wholly  Ovine  or  sheepish;  he 
bleated  perpetually,  and  chew'd  the  Cud.  He  had  wool  growing  on 
him  in  great  quantities''.^^ 

Sir  Nicholas  had  promised  to  dissect  a  "Chichester  Lobster" 
for  his  visitors,  but  unfortunately  the  fishmonger  failed  to  appear. 
The  dramatist's  reasons  for  omitting  this  operation  are  not  clear, 
but  several  suggestions  at  once  occur.  Shadwell  may  not  have 
known  enough  about  the  anatomy  of  the  lobster,  or  he  may  have 
thought  the  thing  would  not  be  practicable  on  the  stage.  The 
promised  lecture  on  science  also  is  given  up,  and  doubtless  for 
the  same  reasons.     Neither  one  would  have  made  a  good  scene. 

The  strangest  experiment  of  all  is  that  of  bottling  the  air.  Sir 
Nicholas  has  an  ingenious  scheme  for  taking  the  country  air  w^hile 
sitting  at  home  in  the  midst  of  London.  He  lias  men  employed  in 
all  parts  of  England — "Factors  of  Air"— to  bottle  the  different 
varieties  and  send  them  to  him  to  be  stored  in  a  great  vault  under 
his  house.'     He   has   collected   large   quantities   from   Newmarket, 

^'  Ibid. 
2«Ibid. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  75 

Banstead  Down,  Wiltshire,  Bury,  Norwich, — "what  you  will".-^ 
His  custom  is  to  choose  the  particular  kind  of  air  desired,  and  then, 
going  into  his  chamber,  to  close  the  windows  and  doors,  and  draw 
the  blinds.  He  now  opens  some  forty  gallons  of  the  chosen  air  and 
snuffs  it  up  eagerly  \^dth  such  exclamations  as — "0,  this  Bury  air 
is  delicate!  'tis  delicious!  0,  very  refreshing!"  "There  is  great 
advantage  in  thus  taking  the  air  for  it  tastes  so  much  fresher  from 
being  bottled,  as  Liquors  do.  For,  let  me  tell  you  Gentlemen,  Air 
is  but  a  thiner  sort  of  Liquor". 

He  also  weighs  the  air  carefully.     From  his  thorough  study  he 

can  tell  exactly  the  weight  of  a  given  amount  from  any  district. 

That  around  the  "Picque  of  Teneriffe  is  lightest  in  weight;  from 

Sheerness  and  the  Isle  of  Dogs  comes  the  heaviest". 

"Longvil, — To  what  end  do  you  weigh  this  Air,  Sir? 

Sir   Nicholas, — To    what    end    should    I?      To    know    what    it 

weighs.     0,  Knowledge  is  a  fine  thing  !"^° 
Other  experiments  in  Physics  had  been  made.     The  virtuoso 
produces  his  pneumatic  engine,  which,  according  to  his  own  boast, 

he  has  used  to  ' '  eclipse  the  Light  of  rotton  Wood and  putrid 

Flesh,  when  it  becomes  lucid".      "  'Tis  the  finest  Light  in  the 
World.     But  for  all  that  I  could  eclipse  the  Leg  of  Pork  in  my 
Receiver,  by  pumping  out  the  Air;  but  immediately  upon  the  Ap- 
plause of  the  Air  let  in  again,  it  became  lucid  as  before." 
"Longvil, — Is  it  so  curious  a  Light? 
Sir   Nicholas, — I    am   now   studying   the   Glow-worms;    a   fine 
Study !     Curious   Animal,   I   think   I   shall   preserve   them 
Light  all  the  Year,  and  then  I  shall  never  use  any  other 
Light  in  my  Study  but  Glow-worms  and  concave  Glasses.  .  .  . 
I  myself  have  read  a  Geneva  Bible  by  a  Leg  of  Pork".^^ 
He  has  also  made  experiments  with  the  wonderful  properties  of 
May-dew ;  he  is  an  adept  in  the  rosicrucian  mysteries ;  he  is  a  phy- 
sician who  cures  by  general  prescriptions.     He  delves  into  experi- 
mental science  and  pseudo-science  alike  and  \^^thout  discrimination. 
It  was  evidently  Shadwell's  purpose  to  make  the  whole  realm  of 
scientific  investigation   ridiculous.     To   this  series  of  absurd   ex- 

»  The  Yirtuoso,  Act.  V,  sc.  1. 

""Ibid.  Act  II,   sc.   1. 

"  The  Virtuoso,  Act  V,  sc.  1. 


76  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGIilSH    LITERATURE 

periments  he  added  extravagant  claims  of  achievements.  He  conies 
here  near  to  the  quarrel  between  the  moderns  and  the  ancients 
that  was  fought  out  a  little  later.  Sir  Nicholas  seems  to  have  far 
outstripped  all  the  ancient  and  modern  scientists;  in  most  things 
he  has  reached  "the  Achrae  of  Perfection". 

In  the  study  of  insects  there  is  the  most  sport  for  the  dramatist ; 
it  is  the  most  thoroughly  canvassed  comic  element  in  the  play. 
Special  attention  has  been  devoted  to  the  ants,  where  the  virtuoso 
has  "discovered  more  curious  Phenomena  in  these  Animals,  than 
in  those  of  vaster  magnitude  ".^^  He  knows  their  form  of  govern- 
ment, "which  is  a  kind  of  Commonwealth,  a  Republic,  resembling 
that  of  the  States-General".  Spiders  have  revealed  to  him  more 
curious  "Appearances  of  Nature,  than  to  any  man  living ".^^  One 
spider  had  been  so  well  trained  that  he  recognized  his  name, 
"Nick",  and  followed  Sir  Nicholas  around  as  a  dog  does  its  mas- 
ter.^* He  has  made  a  thorough  investigation  of  ' '  the  delicate  Spider, 
call'd  Tarantula";  he  has  "travelled  all  over  Italy,  and  had  no 
other  Affair  in  the  World,  but  to  study  the  Secrets  of  that  har- 
monious Insect." 

"Bruce, — Did  you  observe  the  Wisdom,  Policies,  and  Customs  of 
that  ingenious  People? 

Sir  Nicholas, — By  no  means.  'Tis  below  a  Virtuoso  to  trouble 
himself  with  Men  and  Manners.     I  study  Insects".-''^ 

Snarl  sajs  that  he  cares  not  for  this  new  philosophy,  because 
it  consists  in  good-for-nothing  experiments  upon  flies,  maggots, 
eels  in  vinegar,  and  the  blue  upon  plums.'^"  The  world  of  minutiae 
disclosed  by  the  microscope  meant  only  this  to  the  play-writer. 

The  telescope  has  revealed  the  most  marvelous  things  in  the 
moon  to  the  virtuoso.  He  has  seen  the  mountains  and  valleys,  seas 
and  lakes  of  that  place ;  he  has  recognized  the  larger  animals,  such 
as  elephants  and  camels ;  he  has  been  able  to  identify  public  build- 
ings and  ships.  But  the  half  has  never  been  told; — "I  have  seen 
several  Battles  fought  there.     They  have  great  guns,  and  have  the 

«  Ibid. 

M  Ibid.  Act  IV. 

»♦  Ibid.   Act  Y. 

»B  The  Virtuoso,  Act  II,  so.  1. 

M  Ibid.  Act  IV. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  77 

use  of  Gunpowder There  is  now  a  Great  Monarch  who  has 

Armies  in  several  Countries  of  the  IMoon ;  which  we  found  out  be- 
cause the  Colours,  which  we  see,  are  all  alike.  There  are  a  great 
many  States,  which  we  take  to  be  Confederacies  against  him.  He  is 
an  ambitious  Prince,  and  aims  at  universal  Monarchy,  but  the  rest 
will  be  too  hard  for  him".  ^"^  The  force  of  nature  can  liardly  go 
further  than  this. 

A  servant  interrupts  the  Virtuoso's  discourse  on  insects,  by 
entering  to  announce, — "Sir,  the  Gentleman  that's  going  for  Lap- 
land, Russia,  and  those  parts,  is  come  for  your  Letters  and  Queries, 
which  you  are  to  send  thither".  "Sir  Nicholas; — I'll  wait  on  him. 
I  keep  a  constant  correspondence  with  all  Virtuoso's  in  the  North 
and  North  East  Parts.  There  are  rare  Phenomena's  in  those 
countries.  I  am  beholden  to  Lapland,  Finland,  and  Russia  for  a 
great  part  of  my  Philosophy.     I  send  my  queries  there.  "^^ 

This  custom  was  actually  followed  by  the  members  of  the  Royal 
Society.  In  the  first  place  the  entire  company  was  divided  into 
committees,  and  a  definite  field  of  inquiry  was  assigned  to  each. 
Then,  in  order  that  they  could  keep  in  touch  with  scientific  ac- 
tivities in  other  parts  of  the  world,  a  system  of  correspondence  was 
kept  up.  Oldenburg,  the  first  secretary,  complained  because  he 
was  heavily  burdened  with  the  correspondence  he  was  obliged  to 
carry  on.  Letters  poured  in  upon  him  from  Italy,  Spain,  France, 
America,  Germany,  Holland,  Sweden,  Scotland,  Ireland,  Japan, 
China,  Persia,  and  Turkey.  From  time  to  time  long  lists  of  queries 
were  sent  out  by  travellers  to  be  answered  either  by  themselves  or 
by  some  scientific  friend  in  the  foreign  parts.  Visiting  foreigners 
were  formally  invited  to  the  meetings,  and  were  often  asked  to  ad- 
dress the  Society. 

Such  a  custom  was  destined  to  have  a  note-worthy  effect.  So 
far  from  being  the  correct  material  for  satire,  it  deserved  high 
praise.  Of  course  it  had  its  weakness;  many  of  the  reports  re- 
ceived were  of  the  most  fabulous  character,  yet  they  were  repre- 
sented to  the  Society  and  recorded  in  their  minutes.  This  laid  them 
open  to  satiric  attack.  The  idea  of  such  a  system  of  international 
communication  originated  with  Lord  Bacon's  New  Atlantis.     The 

"  Ibid. 
88  Ibid. 


78  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

king  of  the  Isle  of  Bensalem  sent  out  groups  of  men,  whom  he 
called  Factors,  to  make  a  study  in  all  parts  of  the  world  of  certain 
natural  phenomena.  It  might  be  added  that  the  whole  pattern  of 
the  Society  may  be  found  in  the  same  book.  The  humor  in  the 
mentioning  of  such  places  as  Finland,  Lapland  and  Russia  is  al- 
most wholly  lost  on  the  modern  reader.  To  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury mind  it  was  civilization  asking  barbarism  and  superstition  to 
solve  its  perplexing  problems  for  it. 

Although,  in  general,  knov»ledge  is  itself  the  ultimate  end 
for  Sir  Nicholas,  yet  he  has  applied  his  skill  to  some  practical  in- 
ventions. He  has  gone  far  beyond  anyone  in  improving  the  tele- 
scope. It  was  due  to  his  superior  apparatus  that  he  could  see  so 
many  more  things  than  other  observers.  He  has  improved  the 
speaking  trumpet  "beyond  all  men's  expectation"  already,  and 
hopes  within  '.'three  months  to  improve  it  so  that  from  a  chief 
Mountain,  Hill,  Emineney,  in  a  County,  a  man  may  be  heard 
around  the  Country".  The  result  will  be  that  one  person  can 
preach  to  a  whole  county,  and  the  King  will  be  able  to  "take  the 
Church  Lands  and  serve  all  England  with  its  Chaplains  in  Or- 
dinary ".^^ 

Bacon  had  declared  that  a  man  could,  by  study  of  nature,  be- 
come complete  master  over  her.  Into  this  belief  Sir  Nicholas  has 
fully  entered; — "a  man  by  Art,  may  appropriate  any  Element  to 
himself.  You  know  a  great  many  Virtuoso's  can  fly;  but  I  am 
so  much  advanced  in  the  Art  of  flying,  that  I  can  already  outfly 
that  ponderous  Animal  call  'd  a  Bustard ;  nor  can  any  Grey-Hound 
in  England  catch  me  in  the  calmest  Day,  before  I  get  upon  Wing. 
Nay,  I  doubt  not,  but  in  a  little  time  to  improve  the  Art  so  far, 
'tudll  be  as  common  to  buy  a  Pair  of  Wings  to  fly  to  the  World 
in  the  moon,  as  to  buy  a  Pair  of  Wax-Boots  to  ride  into  Sussex 
with".^° 

So  learned  is  this  virtuoso,  at  least  in  his  own  esteem,  that 
ordinary  words  will  not  afford  him  free  expression;  he  must  have 
a  "learned  language".  His  dissertation  at  his  first  appearance, 
where  he  is  learning  the  art  of  swimming,  will  serve  as  an  example 
of  the  extravagance  of  his  speech.     ' '  Let  me  rest  a  little  to  respire. 

«•  The  Virtuoso,  Act  V,  sc.  2. 
*"  Ibid.  Act  II,  BC.  1. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  79 

So;  it  is  wonderful,  my  Noble  Friend  (the  French  Dancing-master), 

to  observe  the  Agility  of  this  i)retty  Animal,  which  notwithstand- 
ing I  impede  its  motions,  by  the  detention  of  this  Filum,  or  Thread, 
within  my  Teeth,  which  makes  a  ligature  about  its  Loins,  and  though 
by  sudden  stops  I  cause  the  Animal  sometimes  to  sink  or  immerge, 
yet  with  indefatigable  Activity  it  rises,  and  keeps  almost  its  whole 
Body  upon  the  Superficies,  or  surface  of  this  himiid  Element".*^ 
Later,  in  explaining  respiration,  he  declares  the  air  is  expelled  from 
the  lungs  "farther  to  elaborate  the  Blood  by  refrigerating  it,  and 
separating  the  fuliginous  Streams".  He  talks  familiarly  of  the 
"follicular  impulsion  of  Air",  of  the  " Chrystalline  from  the  co- 
agulation of  the  Aqueous  Juices",  of  "heterogeneous  and  homogene- 
ous", "emittent  and  recipient",  "cacochymious",  "fluidity",  "or- 
biculation",  "fixation",  "angulization",  "plantananimation". 
Many  of  the  recently  coined  scientific  polysyllables  are  sown  through 
his  speeches  in  a  wanton  manner. 

In  the  final  scene  Sir  Nicholas  Gimcrack  finds  himself  deserted 
by  everyone ;  even  his  wife  has  turned  against  him  when  his  money 
is  gone.  She  threatens  to  publish  his  letters  "and  send  them  to 
Gresham  College",  where  he  will  be  "more  despised  than  he  now 
is  there".  All  of  his  property  is  taken  to  pay  for  his  instruments 
and  the  expenses  of  his  experiments;  a  mob  of  weavers  have 
threatened  to  take  his  life  for  inventing  a  loom  to  displace  them. 
Under  these  circumstances  he  repents  of  his  humor.  "That  I 
should  know  Men  no  better;  I  would  I  had  studied  Mankind, 
instead  of  Spiders  and  Insects. — Am  I  deserted  by  all  ?  Well,  now 
'tis  time  to  study  for  Use;  I  will  presently  find  out  the  Philoso- 
pher's Stone;  I  had  like  to  have  found  it  last  Year,  but  that  I 
wanted  May-Dew,  it  being  a  dry  Season".*^ 

"The  Virtuoso,  who  piques  himself  on  never  intending  any- 
thing that  is  of  use,  is  certainly  a  very  good  character,  but  the 
scenes  in  which  he  explains  his  experiments,  must  be  very  heavy 
in  presentation".*'^  This  is  just  criticism;  the  character  is  good, 
but  there  is  too  obvious  an  attempt  to  get  in  all  the  possible  hits 
on  the  new  science.     There  are  scenes,  however,  where  Sir  Nicholas 

"T/ie  Virtuoso,  Act  II,  sc.   1. 

«Tfte    Tirtuoso,    Act   V,    bc.    Ultima. 

**  Genest's  Some  Account  of  the  English  Stage,  vol.  I,  p.  888-9, 


80  THE    NEW    SCIENCE   AND   ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

is  not  consistently  possessed  with  this  new  humor,  where  he  is  not 
a  scientist  but  a  man  about  town,  engaging  in  base  intrigues  like 
other  comic  characters,  (Longvil)  "For  all  his  Virtue  and 
Philosophy,  this  grave  Fool  will  be  in  the  fashion  too".**  Into 
these  scenes  the  dramatist  did  not  bring  his  science  as  he  brought 
Sir  Formal  wdth  his  Rhetoric,  and  Snarl  with  his  hatred  of  every- 
thing later  than  1642.  Sir  Nicholas  must  be  in  his  laboratory, 
surrounded  by  his  apparatus,  his  flies,  spiders,  mites  and  maggots, 
or  his  is  an  ordinary,  indistinguishable  comic  character.  His 
scientific  humor,  therefore,  is  superficial;  it  is  obviously  tacked  on 
to  him  and  not  an  essential  part  either  of  him  or  of  the  plot.  The 
point  is  that  Sir  Nicholas  is  a  pretender  to  this  scientific  knowledge 
and  it  is  this  pretense  against  which  the  satire  is  aimed,  and  not 
against  the  true-blue  Greshamites. 

Although  Sir  Nicholas  Gimcrack  is  Shadwell's  master  effort, 
he  did  return  in  other  comedies  to  touch  upon  the  scientific  humor. 
In  the  Squire  of  Alsatia  (1688)  the  father  and  the  uncle  of  the 
young  squire  discuss  the  benefit  of  natural  philosophy  in  the  edu- 
cation of  a  gentleman. 

"Sir  Edward, — He  by  the  way  read  Natural  Philosophy,  and 
had  an  insight  enough  into  Mathematics. 

Sir  William, — Natural  Philosophy !  Knows  nothing ;  Nor  would 
I  give  for  any  Mathematician,  but  a  Carpenter,  Bricklayer,  Meas- 
ure of  Land,  or  a  Sailor. 

Sir  Edward, — Some  moderate  skill  in  it  will  use  a  Man  to  reason 
closely. 

Sir  "William, — Very  Pretty,  Reason!  Can  he  reason  himself 
into  six  Shillings  by  all  this?"*« 

In  The  Sullen  Lovers,  1688,  there  is  a  "virtuoso  in  the  character 
of  Lady  Vaine  Knowall".  She  prides  herself  upon  her  mercurial 
disposition.  "On  my  conscience",  says  Lovell,  "it  is  easier  to  fix 
quick-silver  than  your  Humour,  Madam".*''  This  capricious  vi- 
vacity is  really  her  humor,  even  although  she  pretends  to  knowl- 
edge extraordinary.  "That  Virtuosa,  as  calls  herself,  is  the  pleas- 
antest  creature  I  ever  saw".*^    In  reality  there  is  only  a  claim  to 

"Act  III,  sc.  uit. 
"■  The  Squire  of  AUatia,  Act  II. 
*«  The  Sullen  Lovers,  Act  II,  8C.  1. 
*'  Ibid.  Act  II,  sc.  1.    Caroline. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  81 

virtuosity.  "Madam",  says  Lady  Vaine,  "d'ye  think  I,  that  am 
a  Virtuosa,  understand  no  better  than  to  leave  you,  now  you  are 
not  well  ? '  '*^  But  she  has  no  experiments  to  show,  no  discoveries  to 
disclose.  She  is  only  a  "she-pedant"  with  a  vague  idea  of  what 
learning  consists.  A  far  more  direct  thrust  at  the  new  philosophy 
is  given  by  Emilia, — "Others,  after  twenty  or  thirty  years  study 
in  Philosophy,  arrive  no  furtlier  than  at  the  weighing  of  carps, 
the  invention  of  a  travelling  wheel,  or  the  poisoning  of  a  Cat  with 
the  Oyl  of  Tobacco;  these  are  your  Wits  and  Virtuoso's".  In 
the  last  act  of  the  play  it  is  stated  on  hearsay  evidence  that  Sir 
Positive-At-All  can  fly;  this  is  distinctly  a  virtuoso's  acquirement. 

The  new  science  appeared  later  in  Mrs.  Aphra  Behn's  The 
Emperor  of  the  Moon  (1687).  Dr.  Boliardo,  having  spent  a  long 
time  in  the  study  of  the  * ' lunar  orb ",  "so  religiously  believes  there 
is  a  world  there,  that  he  Discourses  as  gravely  of  the  People,  their 
Government,  Institutions,  Laws,  Manners,  Religion,  and  Constitu- 
tion, as  if  had  been  bred  a  Machiavel  there  ".*^ 

"Scaramouch, — How  came  he  so  infected? 

Elaria, — With  reading  foolish  Books,  Lucian's  Dialogues  of  the 
Lofty  Traveller,  who  flew  up  to  the  Moon,  and  thence  to  Heaven; 
an  Heroick  Business  called  the  Man  in  the  Moon,  if  you'll  believe  a 
Spaniard,  who  was  carried  thither,  upon  an  Engine  drawn  by 
wild  Geese;  with  another  philosophical  Piece,  A  Discourse  of  the 
World  in  the  Moon;  with  a  thousand  other  ridiculous  volumes 
too  hard  to  name".^° 

A  play,  called  The  Man  in  the  Moon,  is  to  be  presented  before 
the  moon-struck  doctor  with  such  realistic  setting  that  he  will  be 
convinced  of  its  reality.'^^'  The  purpose  is  to  bring  about  an  op- 
portunity for  the  two  young  gallants  to  meet  with  the  closely 
guarded  young  women,  with  whom  they  are  in  love.  The  doctor, 
with  all  his  moon  gazing,  is  jealous  of  any  attention  paid  his  wards. 

In  the  second  scene  of  Act  II  Doctor  Boliardo  enters  "with  all 
manner  of  mathematical  Instruments  hanging  at  his  girdle; 
Scaramouch  bearing  a  Telescope  twenty  or  thirty  feet  long".     This 

««Ibid.  Act  II,   sc.   1. 

*9  The  Emperor  of  the  Moon,  Act  III. 

^Ibii.   Act  I. 

SI  Ibid.  Act  I,  6C.  1. 


82  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND   ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

telescope  is  pointed  at  the  moon  ready  for  new  observations,  but 
at  that  moment  a  visitor  is  announced,  who  proves  to  be  a  learned 
member  of  the  virtuoso  society  in  the  moon,  "a  Cabalist  of  the 
Kosicrueian  Order".  In  reality  it  is  Charmante  in  disguise.  The 
doctor  and  the  stranger  talk  learnedly  about  the  "Caballa  of 
Eutopia";  a  map  of  the  moon- world  is  displayed,  omitting  "no 
Town,  Village,  or  Villa ;  no  Castle,  River,  Bridge,  Lake,  Spring,  or 
Mineral"/'-  "Keplair  and  Galileus"  enter  "with  Perspectives 
in  their  Hands";  they  are  come  as  "interpreters  of  the  Emperor 
of  the  Moon"/^  They  say  nothing  themselves  but  only  by  means 
of  an  interpreter  who  uses  a  "stentrophon"  (the  " stentroplioni- 
cal  tube"  of  Sir  Nicholas).  At  the  end  of  the  comedy  Doctor 
Boliardo  stands  alone  \\'itli  the  realization  that  his  two  wards  have 
been  stolen  and  he  himself  has  been  duped.  "I  see"  he  says, 
"there's  nothing  in  Philosophy,  Of  all  that  he  was  the  wisest 
Bard,  who  spoke  this  mighty  Truth — 

He  that  knew  all  that  ever  Learning  writ. 
Knew  only  this, — that  he  knew  nothing  yet". 

It  is  difficult  here  to  disentangle  the  new  from  the  old  studies 
of  the  moon.  Doctor  Boliardo  is  in  part  the  old-time  astrologer 
with  new  scientific  apparatus, — "his  Microscopes,  his  Horoscopes, 
his  Telescopes,  and  all  his  Scopes".  But  his  brain  has  been 
cracked  by  the  perusal  of  extravagant  fiction,  foreign  and  domestic, 
respecting  the  moon.  Among  these  books  is  one  by  Dr.  Wilkins, 
A  Discourse  of  the  World  in  the  Moon,  who  was  a  shining  light  in 
the  Royal  Society.  It  would  seem  fair  to  conclude  that  the  dramat- 
ist had  as  confused  an  idea  of  the  new  science  as  Doctor  Boliardo 
himself.  She  knew  no  distinction  between  astrology  and  astron- 
omy. 

The  new  science  did  not  escape  the  comprehensive  satire  of  the 
Rehearsal  (1664-1667). 

"Johnson, — But  they  are  a  new  kind  of  Wits. 

Smith,— New  Kind!    What  Kind  it  that? 

Johnson, — ^Why,  your  Virtuosi,  your  civil  Persons,  Your 
Drolls."^* 


«  Ibid.  Act  II,  BC.  3. 

wibid. 

"  The  Rehearsal,  Act  I,  sc.   1. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  83 

"Bayes, — A  friend  of  mine  at  Gresham  College  has  promised  to 
help  me  to  some  Spirit  of  Brains."'^ 

These  are  but  chance  references  and  are  practically  negligible, 
except  for  the  rather  important  fact  that  they  could  persumably 
be  understood  by  all  play-goers.  Allusions  to  the  new  science,  like 
those  to  Puritanism  and  the  "Good  Old  Cause",  are  made  without 
appended  explanations.  As  early  as  1664  sufficient  knowledge  of 
what  the  Greshamites  were  doing  had  spread  through  London  to 
make  it  a  familiar  source  of  allusion  for  wits. 

John  Lacy's  The  Dumh  Lady  appeared  in  1672.  "The  main 
plot  is  taken  from  Moliere's  Mock  Doctor;  the  catastrophe  is  bor- 
rowed from  Moliere's  Love's  the  test  Boctor".^^  And  yet  a  little 
of  the  English  science  has  crept  into  the  character  of  Drench  to 
give  a  touch  of  local  color.  Isabella  praises  his  ability  as  a  phy- 
sician most  extravagantly, — "he  brought  a  mad-woman  to  her  wits 
again  that  was  suspected  never  to  have  had  any ;  nay,  he  has  taken 
men's  legs  and  arms  off,  and  set  'em  on  sound  again ".'^^  Jarvis 
thereupon  declares  "that's  beyond  Surgeon's  Hall". 

"Softhead, — I'll  be  hanged  if  this  fellow  be  not  a  spy  of  the 
virtuoso's  and  is  come  to  betray  the  sectreat  of  Nature ".^^ 

The  farrier.  Drench,  once  turned  physician,  goes  the  full  course. 
By  happy  fortune  he  is  endowed  with  remarkable  wit,  and  having 
once  served  a  montebank,  who  had  taught  Drench,  had  learned 
something  of  the  ' '  fanatic  branches ' '  of  the  new  science. 

"Gernette, — But,  Sir,  'tis  strange  that  you  should  know  my 
daughter's  disease  from  my  pulse. 

Doctor, — Sympathy  does  it.  I  find  you  have  no  faith  in  sym- 
pathetic powder,  therefore,  cannot  know  our  sympathetical  way  of 
practice.  When  any  man  or  woman  is  sick  in  Greenland,  they 
always  send  the  next  of  kin  to  the  doctor;  and  by  that  pulse  the 
disease  is  known  and  the  patient  cured 

Doctor, — "Why,  Sir,  your  men  that  have  endeavored  to  find 
out  perpetual  motion  have  come  near  it,  I  confess,  with  their  clocks 
and  pendulums;  but  Aristotle  says,  Fix  a  dial  plate  to  a  woman's 

"Act  II,  sc.   1. 

^Dramatists  of  the  Restoration,  John  Lacy,  Note  to  the  Dumb  Lady. 

•"Ibid.  Act  I,  sc.  2. 

^^  Dramatists  of  the  Restoration,  John  Lacy,  The  Dumb  Lady.     Act.  I,  sc.  2. 


84  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

Mouth,  and  if  the  perpetual  Motion  be  not  there,  let  them  never 
hope  to  find  it"/'® 

In  his  practice  as  a  physician,  Drench,  like  the  Greshamites, 
"works  by  natural  causes".^" 

The  process  here  is  obvious.  Lacy  has  succeeded  in  pouring  a 
little  new  wine  into  the  old  mne-skins  without  loss.  He  freely 
confesses  his  obligations  to  other  wits  and  apologizes  for  his  adapta- 
tions on  the  ground  that  he  cannot  help  it.  "There  is  a  kind  of 
charm  in  poetry — 'tis  like  tobacco  and  chemistry;  for  if  you  once 
take  the  one  and  undertake  the  other,  you  are  fixed  to  the  freehold 
never  to  be  parted  "."^^  The  dramatist  has  gathered  a  few  scraps 
from  the  table  of  the  new  scientists  and  patched  up  the  old  char- 
acter of  the  astrological  physician. 

.  This  comic  situation  and  this  character  reappear  in  Mrs.  Cent- 
livre's  Love's  Contrivance  (1703),  and  in  Fielding's  Mock  Doctor 
(1732).  In  the  latter  comedy  Gregory,  as  Drench  is  there  called, 
has  a  touch  of  the  new  science  in  him.  He  had  once  been  a  servant 
at  the  university,  and  being  quick  of  wit,  had  absorbed  some  Latin 
and  some  scientific  jargon. 

"Gregory, — Sir,  I  can  cure  anything.  Hark  ye,  ]\Ir.  Apothecary, 
you  see  that  the  love  she  has  for  Leander  is  entirely  contrary 
to  the  will  of  her  father,  and  that  an  inunediate  remedy  is 
necessary.  For  my  part,  I  know  of  but  one ;  which  is  a  dose  of 
purgative  running  away,  mixt  with  two  drams  of  pills  of  mat- 
rimoniacy  and  three  large  handfuls  of  arbor  vitae ;  perhaps  she 
will  make  some  difficulty  to  take  them;  but  as  you  are  an  able 
apothecary,  I  shall  trust  you  for  the  success.  Go,  make  her 
walk  in  the  garden ;  be  sure  to  lose  no  time ;  to  the  remedy  quick ; 
to  the  remedy  specific. 

Sir  Jasper, — ^What  drugs.  Sir,  were  those  I  heard  you  mention, 
for  I  don't  remember  I  ever  heard  them  spoke  of  before? 
Gregory, — They  are  some,  Sir,  lately  discovered  by  the  Royal 
Society  ".«2 

"Ibid.  Act  II,  sc.   1. 
">  Ibid. 

"  Epistle  to   the  Reader. 
«>  The  Dumb  Lady,  Act  II. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  85 

An  amusing  travesty  on  dissection  is  found  in  Ravenscroft'a 
The  Anatomist;  or  the  Sham  Doctor  (1697).  The  comic  situation 
is  conventional  enough.  Old  Gerard  loves  the  young  daughter  of 
Monsieur  Le  jMedecin,  whose  wife  and  daughter  by  the  way  are 
wholly  English  in  name  and  speech.  The  doctor  consents  to  the 
match  for  money;  but  the  \vife,  who  "wears  the  breeches",  refuses. 
Young  Gerard,  who  has  been  sent  to  college  to  prevent  his  becoming 
a  rival  to  his  father,  loves  Angelica,  and  is  loved  by  her.  Crispin, 
the  mock  doctor,  is  the  servant  of  young  Gerard  and  in  love  with 
Beatrice,  the  servant  of  Angelica.  These  two  servants  carry  on 
the  intrigues.  Two  of  the  scenes  are  laid  in  the  laboratory  where 
a  body  is  to  be  brought  for  dissection.  Crispin  is  first  caught  in 
here  by  Monsieur  Le  Medecin  and  is  compelled  to  lie  on  the  dissect- 
ing table  simulating  the  corpse  for  dissection.  The  only  thing  that 
prevents  his  discovery  or  dismemberment  is  the  hiding  of  the  doc- 
tor's instruments  by  Beatrice.  Once  out  of  this  predicament  he 
resolves  never  to  undergo  such  an  experience  again.  The  doctor  re- 
turns before  he  can  escape ;  he  dons  the  dress  of  a  physician,  which 
he  finds  hanging  on  the  wall,  recalls  a  few  phrases  that  he  heard 
while  lying  on  the  table,  and  pretends  to  be  a  physician  come  to 
witness  the  dissection.  Crispin  is  now  the  sham  doctor, — "medi- 
cus  sum" — with  a  suddenly  developed  knowledge  of  astrology. 
He  considers  himself  no  unw^orthy  member  of  the  profession.  ' '  The 
world  belies  'em  or  there  are  many  physicians  as  great  fools  as 
myself  ".^^  He  compels  Old  Gerard,  who  has  come  clandestinely 
to  see  Angelica,  to  lie  on  the  dissecting  table  to  avoid  detection. 
Thereupon  he  frightens  him  with  threats  of  "amputation"  and 
"incisions",  of  deep  carvings  from  the  "Systole  to  the  Diastole". 
He  dispenses  pills  to  all  the  patients, — "to  find  a  lap-dog  gone 
astray,  to  win  the  love  of  a  serving  girl  for  a  love-lorn  swain". 
All  in  all  this  is  a  roaring  farce,  full  of  fun  and  with  the  laboratory 
for  the  first  time  used  with  splendid  comic  effect.  Although  the 
knowledge  of  astrology  clings  still  to  the  character  of  the  physician, 
he  is  modern  in  his  anatomy;  the  heart  motions  are  known,  the 
blood  circulates,  the  microscope  is  in  use. 

Mention,  at  least,  must  be  made  hero  of  The  New  Athenian 
Comedy  (1693)  by  Elkanah  Settle.  It  is  a  satire  on  the  "Athenian 
Society,"  that,  with  Dunton  at  its  head,  promised  to  answer  all 

^  The  Anatomist,  Act  I,  sc.  2. 


86  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

inquiries  sent  to  it  in  the  pages  of  its  official  organ,  The  Mercury. 
One  section  of  this  periodical  was  devoted  to  science  and  delivered 
to  its  readers  second  hand  facts  from  the  Royal  Society,  such  as 
Swift  suggested  in  his  satiric  Ode  to  the  Athenian  Society.  Set- 
tle's work  purports  to  be  a  comedy,  but  is  in  fact  a  "scurrilous 
dialogue"  on  the  momentous  question, — "Which  is  the  more  noble 
Animal  a  louse  or  a  flea?"  The  two  scientists,  "Jury  Squirt, 
Casuist,  and  Physician  in  Ordinary",  and  "Joachim-Dash,  Mathe- 
matician", who  take  part  in  this  debate,  have  been  identified  as 
Mr.  Norris  and  Mr.  Sault,  respectively.^*  The  ridicule  was  un- 
doubtedly well  deserved. 

An  adaptation  of  Moliere's  Les  Femmes  Savantes  was  made  by 
Thomas  Wright  in  (1693-1697)  The  Female  Virtuosoes.  The  fe- 
male wits  are  to  form  a  society,  an  "Academy  of  Beaux  Esprits". 
"Woe  then"  says  Sir  Maurice  Meanwell,  "to  the  Royal  Society; 
the  glory  of  it  will  suffer  a  manifest  eclipse  ".^^  His  wdfe.  Lady 
Maurice,  is  the  leader  of  these  female  wits ;  she  is,  in  fact,  much  more 
of  a  "virtuosa"  than  Lady  Vaine  in  Shadwell's  Sullen  Lovers. 
Her  head  is  full  of  "projects".  "I  was  yesterday  with  my  Lord 
Mayor,  to  communicate  to  him  a  Mathematical  Engine  of  my  own, 
to  keep  the  streets  as  clean,  and  as  dry  as  a  drawing  Room  all  the 
year  around ' '."''  This  wonderful  invention  was  to  consist  of  ' '  tim- 
ber posts"  set  around  the  city,  to  which  bellows  were  to  be  at- 
tached for  blowing  the  clouds  away.  My  Lady,  it  appears,  is  a 
much  better  philosopher  than  wife,  in  the  judgment  of  her  hus- 
band. 

"Sir  Maurice, — A  pretty  thing  indeed,  to  see  these  long  spec- 
tacles of  yours  set  on  the  Top  of  my  House,  for  you  to  peep 
through,  and  tell  how  many  Hackney-Coaches  are  going  in  the 

moon ! " 

' '  Sir  Maurice, — A  pox  of  Philosopher  for  a  Wife,  who  the  Devil 
would  marry  Wit".^^ 

But  Lady  Maurice  is  not  the  only  projector  and  observer.  Love- 
wit  has  a  huge  limbeck  in  the  process  of  manufacture — 

«*  Brown,    Frank,   Elkanah   Settle,  p.   98. 
«» The  Female   Virtuosoes,   Act  II,   sc.   1. 
«Il)id.  Act  III,  sc.   1. 
"  Ibid. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  87 

"Sir  Maurice, — To  dissolve  the  Philosopher's  Stone  in? 

Lovewit, — No,  to  extract  the  quintessence  of  all  plays,  to  sell 

by  drops  to  poets  of  this  age"."* 
Catchat  has  discovered  "three  men  in  tlie  Moon  fighting  a  duel  in 
a  Church-Yard";"^  she  is  just  now  engaged  in  "teaching  a  Flea 
to  sing".  "The  little  Creature",  says  she,  "understands  notes 
already;  and  if  I  live,  she  shall  sing  a  song  in  the  next  opera  that's 
acted ".'°  Even  Witless  has  caught  the  scientific  fever,  for  he  and 
his  tutor  are  projecting  a  "penny-post  to  the  West  Indies ".^^ 
Already  he  has  made  an  exact  and  accurate  Map,  containing  the 
most  curious  and  most  remarkable  Signs  upon  the  Road  between 
Cambridge  and  London,  \A'ith  their  several  Motto's,  Inscription  and 
Devices,  as  they  were  faithfully  taken  and  delineated  by  Timothy 
Witless,  Batchelor  of  Arts,  in  his  Tale  of  Travels.^-  And  Sir 
Maggot  has  his  schemes  abrewing,  for  "some  virtuosi  are  to  wait 
on  him"  about  a  scheme  for  the  House  (Parliament)  to  have  all 
the  Cities,  Towns,  Villages  in  England  turned  into  Sea-ports.'^^ 

The  cynic  and  scoffer  of  the  play  is  Sir  Maurice,  who  can  find 
no  good  thing  in  all  of  this  wit.  He  makes  no  claim  to  having  the 
virtuoso 's  kind  of  knowledge ;  commonsense  is  still  good  enough  for 
him.  "I  am  no  Scholar,  and  I  thank  my  Stars  for  it;  but  with 
your  leave,  so  much  Commonsense  has  taught  me".'^*  But  what 
more  could  be  expected  of  a  man  who  would  ' '  affront  a  Telescope ' ' ; 
one  who  is  made  up  of  a  "  strange  Compound  of  Vulgar  and  Clown- 
ish Atoms".  He  embodies  commonsense  commenting  on  the  "fan- 
atic branches"  of  the  new  philosophy. 

A  worthy  representative  of  the  female  wits  is  to  be  found  in  the 
character  of  Valeria  of  Mrs.  Centlivre's  The  Basset  Table  (1706). 
She  has,  indeed,  gone  far  beyond  all  previous  "virtuosas"  in  the 
matter  of  experiments;  she  is  "a  Daughter  run  mad  after  Philoso- 
pj^y"  75     jjj  j^gp  gj.g^  appearance  she  dashes  upon  the  stage  in  the 

««n)id.  Act  IV,  sc.  2. 

"9  Ibid.  Act  III,  sc.  1. 

'"  Ibid. 

Ti  Ibid. 

"  The  Female  Tirtuosoes,  Act  II,  so.  2. 

■«  Ibid.  Act  III,  80.  1. 

•>*  Ibid. 

TB  The  Basset-Table,  Act  II. 


88  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND   ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

mad  pursuit  of  "a  huge  Flesh-Fly","*  which  she  has  just  received 
from  Mr.  Lovely  for  dissection. 

**Lady  Reveller, — I  am  glad  the  poor  Fly  escaped;  will  you 

never  be  weary  of  these  Wliimsies  ? 

Valeria, — Whimsies !     Natural  Philosophy  a  Wliimsey !     Oh  the 

unlearned  World. 

Lady  Reveller, — Ridiculous  Learning ! 

Alpiew, — Ridiculous  indeed,  for  Women,  Philosophy  suits  our 

Sex  as  Jack-Boots  would  do 

Lady  Reveller, — My  Stars !  This  Girl  will  be  mad,  that's  cer- 
tain. 

Valeria, — Mad!  So  Nero  banished  Philosophers  from  Rome, 
and  the  first  Discoverer  of  the  Antipodes  was  condemned  for 
a  heretic. 

Lady  Reveller, — In  my  Conscience,  Alpiew,  this  pretty  Creature 
is  Spoiled. — ^Well,  Cousin,  might  I  advise,  you  should  bestow 
your  Fortune  in  founding  a  College  for  the  study  of  Philosophy, 
where  none  but  Women  should  be  admitted"." 
A  bluff  sea  captain,  designed  by  her  whimsical  father  for  Val- 
eria's husband,  is  announced  as  just  returned  from  foreign  parts. 
"Servant, — Madam,  here's  Sir  Richard,  and  a — 
Valeria, — A — What,  is  it  an  Accident,  a  Substance,  a  Material 
Being,  or  a  Being  of  Reason? 

Servant, — I  don't  know  what  you  call  a  Material  Being,  it  is 
a  Man. 

Valeria, — Pshaw,  a  Man,  that's  Nothing. 

Lady  Reveller, — She'll  prove  by  and  by,  out  of  Descartes  that 
we  are  all  Machines ".^^ 
When  Valeria  is  left  alone  with  the  Captain,  she  distracts  his  wdts 
with  her  philosophical  queries. 

"Valeria, — I  would  have  ask'd  you,  Sir,  if  you  had  the  cur- 
iosity to  inspect  a  Mermaid — Or  if  you  are  convinc'd  there  is  a 
World  in  every  Star — ^We  by  our  Telescopes,  find  Seas,  Groves, 
and  Plains,  and  all  that;  but  what  they  are  peopled  with, 
there's  the  quere. 

'9  Ibid.  . 

■"  Ibid. 

''^The  Basset-Table,  Act  II,  sc.  1. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  89 

Captain, — Let  your  next  Contrivance  be  how  to  get  thither,  and 

then  you'll  know  a  world  in  every  star Are  you 

always  infected? 

Valeria, — Dear,  dear  Philosophy,  what  immense  Pleasures 
dwell  in  thee."'^ 

The  fish  arrives  which  she  has  ordered  for  dissection,  and  the 
scene  opens  upon  her  laboratory,  'where  is  a  table,  with  books,  a 
microscope,  and  the  fish  lying  on  it'.  Mr.  Lovely  has  found  his 
way  here  to  woo  Valeria  in  her  scientific  haunts. 

"Valeria, — 0,  J\Ir.  Lovely!  Come,  come  here,  look  through  this 
glass,  and  see  how  the  Blood  circulates  in  the  Tail  of  this  fish. 
Lovely, — ^Wonderful ! 

Valeria, — I'll  shew  you  a  curiosity,  the  greatest  that  ever 
Nature  made.  (Opens  a  Box).  In  opening  a  Dog  the  other 
Day,  I  found  this  Worm. 

Lovely, — Prodigious  !  'Tis  the  Joint-Worm,  which  the  Learned 
talk  so  much  of. 

Valeria, — Ay,  The  Lumbricus,  Lactus,  or  Faescius,  as  Hippo- 
crates calls  it,  or  vulgarly  in  English,  the  Tape-Worm 

Oh,  the  profound  secrets  of  Nature ! '  '*° 

The  bluff  sea  captain  was  soon  "put  oat  of  conceit"  Avith 
Valeria's  "philosophic  Cant",  for,  frankly,  he  did  not  value 
"the  philosophical  Gimcrack"  Avorth  a  "Cockle-Shell".  The 
father.  Sir  Richard,  in  great  rage  goes  to  the  laboratory  just  as 
Lovely  is  urging  Valeria  to  run  away  with  him,  and  leave  her 
"dear  Microscope".  As  Sir  Richard  enters  Lovely  crawls  under 
a  tub  that  has  held  the  fish. 

' '  Sir  Richard, — ^What,  at  your  Whims, — and  Whirligigs,  ye  Bag- 
gage!    I'll  out  at  the  Window  with  them. 
Valeria, — Oh,  dear  Father,  save  my  Lumbricus  Lactus.     Oh, 
my  poor  Worm. 

Sir  Richard,— What  is  it  good  for?"«^ 

Lovely  is  of  course  discovered  and  his  presence  explained  with 
comic  extravagance.  But  he  is  not  dismayed.  One  theory  pos- 
sesses hirgi;  if  he  can  humor  Valeria's  hobby  until  she  will  deign 

■™Ibid.  Act  II. 

so  Ibid.   Act  III,   8C.   1. 

"  The   Basset-Table,   Act   III,   sc.    1. 


90  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

to  hear  his  suit,  he  believes  he  can  win  her.  For  him  this  is  not 
"a  mere  Speculative  Faculty",  but  for  "the  Practice".  His 
perseverance  is  at  last  rewarded; — "Nay,  there's  no  Philosophy 
against  Love;  Solon  for  that",  as  even  Lady  Reveller  knew. 

' '  Lovely, — Will  not  Valeria  look  upon  me  ?  She  used  to  be  more 
kind  when  we  have  fish'd  for  eels  in  Vinegar  ".^^ 

This  is  the  only  instance  of  a  woman  working  in  a  laboratory 
among  insects  and  scientific  apparatus.  Valeria,  however,  goes 
to  the  full  extent;  she  dissects  her  pet  pigeon  to  test  the  "vulgar 
error"  regarding  its  gall;  she  "opens  a  Dog"  to  study  its  internal 
structure ;  she  examines  a  fish  through  the  microscope ;  she  is  not 
restrained  by  an  unscientific  tenderness  or  affection.  "Can  Ani- 
mals, Insects,  or  Reptiles  be  put  to  a  nobler  Use  than  to  improve 
our  Knowledge?  Cousin,  I'll  give  you  this  Jewel  for  your  Italian 
Grey-Hound".*^  She  is  familiar  with  the  nomenclature  of  the 
Cartesian  philosophy;  such  as,  "Accident",  "Substance,"  "Ma- 
terial Being",  and  "Being  of  Reason".**  She  is  eager  to  make  in- 
quiry of  travellers  concerning  the  marvels  in  foreign  lands.  In  a 
word  she  is  thoroughly  one  of  the  new  scientists,  as  comic  writers 
knew  them. 

Mrs.  Lovely,  in  A  Bold  Stroke  for  a  Wife,  (1718)  has  had  four 
guardians  appointed  for  her,  each  representing  a  different  humor. 
Sir  Philip  Modelove  is  the  fop  of  fashion;  Tradelove  is  the  mer- 
chant; Obidiah  Prim  is  the  religious  fanatic;  Periwinkle  is  the 
scientist.  These  four  guardians  quarrel  about  the  character  of 
the  husband  that  is  to  be  selected  for  their  ward.  Each  demands 
that  he  shall  be  permitted  to  select  a  man  dominated  with  his 
own  humor.  The  young  man,  who  rashly  undertakes  to  please 
them  all,  deceives  each  in  turn  into  promising  to  recommend  him 
by  impersonating  the  humors  of  each.  To  Periwinkle  he  is  a 
Colonel,  much-travelled,  and  greatly  interested  in  the  curiosities 
of  nature.  He  has  collected  many  "Rarities",  "which  are  not  yet 
come  ashore";  as,  an  Egyptian  Idol,  two  Tusks  of  a  Hippopota- 
mus, two  pairs  of  Chinese  Nut-crackers,  one  Egyptian  Mummy  ".*^ 

»  Ibid.  Act  V. 

=  Ibid.  Act  II,  sc.  1. 

M  Ibid. 

w  A  Bold  Stroke  for  a  Wife,  Act  II,  sc.  1. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  91 

Sir  John  Tradescant  becomes  for  the  time  being  his  uncle.  These 
qualifications  captivate  Periwinkle;  "I  say  Knowledge  makes  the 
Man".  He,  therefore,  gladly  recommends  the  Colonel  to  Mrs. 
Lovely;  this  is  the  ideal.  "He  shall  be  a  man  famous  for  Travels, 
Solidity,  and  Curiosity — one  who  has  searched  into  the  profundity 
of  Nature.  When  Heaven  shall  direct  such  a  one,  he  shall  have 
my  consent,  because    it  may  turn  to  the  Benefit  of  Mankind.  "^^ 

"Mrs.  Lovely, — The  Benefit  of  Mankind!    What,  would  you 

anatomize  me? 

Sir  Philip  Modelove, — Ay,  Ay,  Madam,  he  w'ould  dissect  you. 

Tradelove, — or,  pore  over  you  with  a  Microscope,  to  see  how 

your  Blood  circulates  from  the  Crown  of  your  Head  to  the 

Sole  of  your  Foot."^^ 

Periwinkle  is  largely  given  over  to  the  antiquarian  humor. 
Wlien  he  is  duped  into  thinking  he  has  inherited  £700  a  year,  his 
mind  begins  to  calculate  "what  a  valuable  Collection  of  Rarities" 
can  be  bought  with  it.  "I  may  well  resen^e  sixteen  hundred  of 
it  for  a  Collection  of  such  Rarities,  as  will  make  my  name  famous 
to  Posterity". 

"With  Nature's  Works  I'll  raise  my  Fame, 

That  Men  till  Dooms-Day,  may  respect  my  Name '  '.^® 

Mrs.  Lovely's  advice  to  him  is  to  "study  your  Country's  Good, 
Mr.  Periwinkle,  and  not  her  insects — Rid  you  of  your  homebred 
Monsters,  before  you  fetch  any  from  abroad — I  dare  swear  you 
have  Maggots  enough  in  your  own  Brain  to  stock  all  the  Virtuoso's 
in  Europe  with  Butterflies".®^  And  yet  he  knows  other  scientific 
interests  also. 

"Periwinkle, — Descartes  tells  us — 

Colonel, — Descartes,  with  the  rest  of  his  Brethren  both  ancient 

and  modern  know  nothing  of  the  Matter. — You  have  heard  of 

blazing   comets?     Those   Comets   are   little   Islands,   bordering 

on  the  Sun  ".80 

If  he  has  a  laboratory  it  is  not  mentioned,  but  he  must  have  a 

««  Ibid. 

"Ibid.  Act  V,  sc.   1. 

*«Ibid.  Act  IV. 

s'lbid.  Act  III. 

BO  Ibid.  Act  III,  sc.   1. 


92  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

"sacred  room"  for  his  rarities.  Let  him,  too,  enter  the  ranks  of 
the  new  philosophers,  even  although  he  is  only  "a  kind  of  silly 
Virtuoso  ".»^ 

The  character  of  Carlos  in  Colley  Gibber's  Love  Makes  a  Man 
(1701)  is  at  first  a  pedantic  philosopher.  He  is  fresli  from  the 
university  and  the  learning  acquired  there  still  obsesses  him.  His 
servant,  Sancho,  says  of  him, — "Life,  Sir!  No  prince  fares  like 
him ;  he  breaks  into  his  fast  with  Aristotle,  dines  with  Tully,  drinks 
at  Helicon,  sups  with  Seneca ;  then  walks  a  turn  or  two  in  the 
Milky  Way,  and  after  six  hours  conference  with  the  Stars,  sleeps 
with  old  Erra  Pater".  But  he  is  not  a  scientist;  he  is  a  classical 
scholar  who  at  first  is  used  as  a  foil  to  his  man-of-the-world  brother, 
Clodio.  Carlos,  however,  quickly  lays  by  all  his  speculative  phil- 
osophy for  the  "Practick",  when  he  falls  in  love  mth  Angelina. 
The  process  of  love  making  a  man  of  him  is  his  escape  from  pedan- 
try to  worldly  commonsense;  the  transformation  from  a  vague, 
absent-minded  scholar  to  the  manhood  that  prompts  him  to  throttle 
his  brother  who  has  for  long  bullied  him. 

The  prologue  to  The  Refusal;  or,  The  Ladies  Philosophy  (1721) 
characterizes  Sophronia  as  "a  Female  Philosophic  Saint".  She 
proves  to  be  a  "  she-pedant ' ',  not  a  natural  philosopher ;  she  knows 
the  classics,  quotes  much  Latin,  but  is  far  from  science.  She  is 
considered  among  the  experimenters,  however,  in  certain  respects. 
' '  A  handsome  Wench,  that  shuts  herself  up  two  or  three  hours  with 
a  young  Fellow,  only  out  of  Friendship,  is  making  a  hopeful  Ex- 
periment in  Natural  Philosophy  indeed".''-  As  a  result  of  this  ex- 
periment, Sophronia  herself  says, — "I  am  now  a  Proselyte  to  that 
Philosophy  which  says.  Nature  makes  nought  in  vain".  And  to 
her  is  given  the  theme  of  the  play  in  this  rather  fine  sentence. 
"In  life  there's  no  philosophy  like  Love".^^ 

John  Gay's  Three  Hours  after  Marriage  (1717)  has  for  its 
hero  Fossil,  "a  physician  interested  in  rarities".  Both  of  these 
phases  of  his  character  enter  into  the  plot.  In  his  character  as  a 
physician  hits  are  made  upon  the  practices  of  doctors.  "Your 
pulse  is  very  high.  Madam",  says  Fossil  to  his  newly-made  bride, 

"  Ibid.  Dramatis  Personae. 
"  The  Refusal,  Act  III. 
«w>Ibid.  Act  V. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  93 

**you  sympathize,  I  perceive". — "What  might  your  Menstruum 
be",  he  asks  of  Plotwell  who  is  disguised  as  a  French  Doctor, 
"Snow-water  or  May-dew?""*  Plotwell  inquires  if  there  is  any 
secret  in  "hydrology,  zoology,  mineralogy,  liydraulics,  acoustics, 
pneumatics,  logarithmatechny",  which  he  desires  to  have  revealed 
to  him.  "That",  Fossil  answers,  "is  all  out  of  my  way.  Do 
you  know  any  hermaphrodites,  monstrous  twins,  antediluvian 
shells,  bones,  and  vegetables  ? "  ^^ 

This  virtuoso  is  interested,  however,  in  the  "Lapis  Lydius,  or 
Touch-stone  of  Virginity",  and  prepares  to  try  his  household  by 
it.  When  he  has  called  all  of  his  servants  before  him,  he  divides 
them  into  two  classes,  ' '  the  Platonicks  and  the  Cartesians  ".  "  The 
Platonicks  are  for  Ideas,  the  Cartesians  for  matter  and  motion  ".^^ 
While  Plotwell  is  in  the  house  in  the  guise  of  a  French  Doctor, 
Underplot  comes  in  as  a  patient.  A  travesty  at  once  follows  on 
the  method  of  diagnosing  a  case.  Plotwell  who  recognizes  his  rival 
proposes  the  most  violent  treatment.  An  operation,  he  says,  is 
unavoidable;  the  strongest  glisters  must  be  used.  The  scene  when 
worked  to  this  pitch  falls  tamely  away. 

As  antiquarian  Fossil  has  a  famous  museum,  filled  with  his 
"dear  pickled  hieroglyphics".  Even  his  new  wife  is  to  him  "the 
best  of  my  Curiosities".  He  decides  to  lock  her  up  in  this  room 
when  he  leaves  to  make  his  calls,  thinking  she  would  thus  be  out 
of  temptation's  way.  It  so  happens,  however,  that  Plotwell  has 
been  previously  carried  in  as  a  mummy  and  Underplot  as  an  alli- 
gator. Fossil  returns  unexpectedly  with  two  of  his  friends,  Drs. 
Nautilus  and  Possum.  They  are  desirous  of  examining  the  two 
newly  received  curiosities  much  to  the  consternation  of  IMrs.  Town- 
ley  and  the  two  intriguers.  ]\Irs.  Townley  suddenly  looks  through 
the  telescope  that  stands  conveniently  near  and  cries, — "What  do  I 
see !  Most  prodigious !  A  Star  as  broad  as  the  ]\Ioon  in  Day- 
time !"^^  The  three  virtuosi  rush  to  the  instrument  and  quarrel 
as  to  which  one  shall  first  observe  the  phenomenon.     Meanwhile 

**  Three  Hours  after  Marriage,  Act  I. 
»BIl)id.  Act  II. 
"  Ibid, 
»'  Itid. 


94  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

the  opportunity  comes  for  Plotwell  and  Underplot  to  escape.  The 
scene  is  pretty  well  done. 

This  phase  of  Fossil's  character  is  most  thoroughly  treated. 
"The  Museum  of  the  Curious",  he  says,  "is  a  lasting  Ornament. 
And  I  think  it  no  degradation  to  a  dead  person  of  quality,  to  bear 
the  rank  of  an  anatomy  in  the  learned  World  ".^®  Dr.  Nautilus 
thinks  the  finest  decorations  for  the  "closets  of  Ladies"  would  be 
"preserved  Butterflies,  and  beautiful  Shells,  instead  of  China- 
Jars,  and  absurd  Indian  pictures. "^^  "Ah,  Dr.  Nautilus",  says 
Fossil,  "how  I  have  languished  for  your  feather  of  Phorphyrion! 
— the  dust  of  Manchora,  the  antediluvian  Trowel,  the  fragment  of 
Seth's  Pillar,  and  the  Entire  Leaf  of  Noah's  Journal ".^*^o  Mrs. 
Townley  declares, — "A  Mummy  is  his  intimate  Friend".  The 
variety  of  Fossil's  collection  is  astonishing.  When  Mrs.  Townley 
finds  two  of  her  lovers  in  the  museum,  she  turns  to  the  other  rari- 
ties with, — "I  don't  know  but  I  may  have  twenty  lovers  in  this  col- 
lection. You  Snakes,  Sharks,  Monkeys,  and  Llan-Tygers,  speak, 
and  put  in  your  claim  before  it  is  too  late".^°^  The  strange  sailor 
finds  his  way  to  Fossil's  house  by  the  fame  it  has  in  the  community 
for  containing  "the  raree-show  of  oyster-shells  and  pebble-stones". 
So  it  be  a  rarity,  it  mattered  not  of  what,  there  was  a  place  for  it 
in  his  museum. 

Once  more  the  "fanatic  branches"  of  science  do  not  escape. 
That  strange  theory  regarding  tarantulas  is  here. — Fossil, — "New- 
married  men  are  treated  like  those  bit  by  the  Tarantula,  both  must 
have  music"."-     Alchemy,  too,  finds  expression  here, — 

"Plotwell, — Me  make  dat  gold  my  own  self  of  de  lead  of  the 

great  Church  of  Cracow. 

Fossil, — By  what  operations? 

Plotwell, — By  calcination,  reverberation,  precipitation,  sub- 
limation, amalgamation,  volatilization. '  '"^ 

Here  again  the  old  and  the  new  science  are  confused.     There 

'*  Three  Hours  after  Marriage,  Act  III. 

»  Ibid. 

»«>  Ibid. 

i«i  Ibid. 

««  Ibid.  Act  I,  sc.  1. 

i^Ibid.  Act  n. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  95 

seems  to  be  no  attempt  to  distinguish  between  the  obsolete,  "pre- 
tended sciences"  and  the  new  philosophy. 

Fossil  stands  as  a  late  comic  representative  of  the  scientific 
humor.  He  shows  no  progress  over  his  predecessors ;  indeed,  much 
of  his  scientific  knowledge  had  appeared  several  times  before  him, 
and  was  certainly  common  property  in  the  days  of  Sir  Nicholas 
Gimcrack.  There  is  nothing  new  in  what  he  has  to  offer ;  even  the 
"virtuosa",  Valeria,  could  teach  him  experiments.  But  here  he  is 
as  one  ' '  who  never  opposes  a  iucif erous  experiment ;  it  is  the  beaten 
highway  to  truth", — at  the  time  when  Merital,  in  Fielding's  Love 
in  Several  Masques  (1728),  could  say, — "In  town  we  look  on  none 
to  be  so  great  a  fool  as  a  philosopher,  and  there  is  no  fool  so  out 
of  fashion ".i"-* 

James  Miller  wrote  a  comedy  in  1726,  called  The  Humours  of 
Oxford.  The  chief  humor,  as  might  be  expected,  is  pedantry,  and 
the  chief  exponent  is  Lady  Science,  whom  Clarinda,  her  niece,  calls 
"Lady  Gimcrack ".^"^  She  is,  indeed,  wholly  possessed  with  this 
pedantic  scientific  hunior;  every  thought  finds  expression  in  scien- 
tific terms.  "I  might  as  easily  make  the  most  erratick  Comet  des- 
cribe a  regular  circle,  as  reduce  you  within  the  Sphere  of  Under- 
standing ",^°^  she  says  to  Clarinda.  "I  can't  bear  much  malignant 
Defamation ;  but  leave  you  as  an  Ignoramus  of  the  first  Magni- 
tude", she  cries  is  exasperation.  "There  is  not  an  individual 
Angle  in  the  whole  Solid  of  my  Body,  but  quakes  when  I  come  near 
jjgj."  107  ^hen  she  discovers  that  she  has  mistaken  Gainlove  in 
disguise  for  Victoria's  learned  husband- to-be,  she  exclaims, — "I 
am  in  an  universal  Fermentation  at  the  thoughts  of  it — every 
Nerve  and  Fibre  in  my  Frame  is  put  into  Vibration  with  the 
Fright.  "^°« 

Lady  Science  demands  that  the  man  she  has  chosen  for  her  son- 
in-law  shall  answer  certain  interrogatories; — 

"Lady  Science, — In  the  first  place.  Sir — which  Hypothesis  are 

you  of — the  Ptolmaick,  or  Copernican  ? 

***  Love  in  Several  Masques,  Act  I,  sc.  1. 

*•*  The  Humours  of  Oxford,  Act  I,  sc.  1. 

i««  Itid. 

!<"  Ibid.  Act  II,  sc.  1. 

losibid.  Act  IV,  sc.  2. 


96  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

Gainlove, — Wliich  System  ?    Wliy,  the — tlie- 
Lady  Science, — The  Copernican  I  suppose  you  mean. 
Gainlove, — The  Copernican. 

Lady  Science, — For  the  other  is  egregiously  repugnant  to  Rea- 
son, and  the  usual  Operations  of  Nature — But  pray,  Sir,  have 
you  any  skill  in  Judicial  Astrology — I  think  it  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  one  who  has  a  Family,  to  be  a  considerable  Proficient 
in  that  useful  Science, 
Gainlove, — Absolutely. 

Lady  Science, — Then  without  question  you  can  erect  Schemes, 
and  calculate  Nativities,  Sir — You  are  acquainted  with  the  Con- 
junctions and  Oppositions  of  the  Planets,  their  Houses  and 
Signs — There  is  the  Bull,  the  Bear,  the  Ram,  the  Crab — 
Gainlove, — Ay,  ]\Iadam, — and  the  Crocodile,  the  Elephant,  the 
Whale- 
Lady  Science, — ^Well,  Sir,  I  have  but  one  thing  more  to  ask  you, 
and  you  shall  be  conducted  to  your  Bride — Do  you  think  it 
ever  possible  to  find  out  the  Longitude,  Sir? — it  is  such  a  vast 
Profundity,  that  I  fear  'tis  beyond  the  reach  of  any  ]\Ian  to 
fathom  it. 

Gainlove, — A  vast  Profundity. 

Lady  Science, — A  Man  of  abundance  of  Learning !  he  still  saith 
as  I  do'Vo^ 
So  far  has  this  virtuoso  gone  into  the  toils  of  the  scientific  humor, 
that  she  applies  the  test  even  in  matrimony. 

Nearly  all  the  varied  interests  of  the  new  philosophers  are  repre- 
sented here.  Lady  Science  no  longer  doubts  the  existence  of  a 
vacuum,  "for  the  Skulls  of  the  young  Girls  and  Fops  of  this  Age, 
are  Demonstrations  sufficient.  "^^°  She  knows  all  the  systems  of 
philosophy  from  Socrates  to  Whiston ;  she  discourses  on  Astronomy 
and  Philosophy  in  curtain  lectures. ^^^  The  scope  of  her  interest 
has  extended  to  every  scientific  apparatus.  When  she  repents  of 
her  philosophical  humor  she  declares; — "I  will  destroy  all  my 
Globes,  Quadrants,  Spheres,  Prisms,  Microscopes,  and  Magick-Lan- 
thorns — I'll  throw  out  all  my  Lumber  of  Load-Stones,  Pebbles,  and 
Petrified  Shells,  to  pave  my  Door — I  '11  convert  my  Air-Pumps  into 

^o'The  Humours  of  Oxford,  Act  IV,  sc.  2. 

""Ibid.  Act  I,  sc.  1. 

"»Ibid. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  97 

Water-pumps,  send  all  my  Serpent's  Teeth,  Mummy's  Bones,  and 
Monstrous  Births,  to  the  Oxford  ]\Iuseum ;  for  the  entertainment  of 
other  as  ridiculous  Pools  as  myself"."^  This  ambitious  philoso- 
pher, also,  has  taken  the  whole  realm  of  knowledge  to  be  her  prov- 
ince. 

But,  with  all  her  pretense  to  learning  and  college  manners,  she 
is  des]nsed  by  all  the  other  characters.  Her  daughter  and  her  niece 
mock  her ;  Haughty  deceives  her ;  Ape- All  derides  her.  ' '  You  know 
what  a  Pretender  the  old  Lady  is  to  learning  and  Philosophy","^ 
says  Gainlove,  even  while  he  prepares  to  avoo  her.  The  "College 
Manners"  so  highly  recommended  by  Lady  Science  to  her  niece, 
"like  your  College  Learning  are  a  Hodge  Podge  of  Contradictions 
to  every  Thing  in  Practice,  and  only  fit  for  the  Place  where  they 
are  taught"."*  Like  Sir  Nicholas  Gimcrack,  she  reforms  at  the 
end  of  the  play.  "  I  am  justly  made  a  Fool  of,  for  aiming  to  be  a 
Philosopher — I  ought  to  suffer,  like  Phaeton,  for  affecting  to  move 
in  a  Sphere  that  did  not  belong  to  me"."^ 

The  special  point  to  this  comic  satire  is  the  pursuit  of  the  new 
philosophy  by  women.  The  play-WTiter,  however,  has  been  carried 
so  far  beyond  this  end  as  to  satirize  all  the  university  interests. 
There  is  not  a  single  character  who  has  come  to  college  for  serious 
endeavor.  Young  Ape-All  thinks  he  has  wasted  two  years  of  life 
because  he  followed  his  tutor's  advice  and  studied  Latin  and  Greek; 
Connundrum  is  a  veritable  travesty  on  all  pretense  to  scholarship ; 
Haughty  is  a  rascal  and  a  fraud.  But  there  is  an  element  of  serious 
criticism  in  the  speech  given  to  Gainlove  at  the  close  of  the  play. 
"Why,  People  of  either  Sex,  Madam,  are  generally  imposed  on,  when 
they  concern  themselves  with  what  is  properly  the  Business  of  the 
other.  The  Dressing-Room,  not  the  Study,  is  the  Lady's  Province 
— and  a  Woman  makes  as  ridiculous  a  Figure,  poring  over  Globes, 
or  through  a  Telescope,  as  a  Man  would  with  a  pair  of  Preservers 
mending  Lace".  Philosophy  may  "fit  men  as  Jack-Boots  do";  but 
it  is  no  business  for  women. 

A  very  stupid  comedy  w^as  published  anonymously  in  1742,  en- 

"2  n)id.   Act  V,   6C.    1. 

"»n)id.  Act  I,  sc.   1. 

"«Ibid.  Act  II,  80.   1. 

"»  The  Humourt  of  Oxford,  Act  V,  so.  1. 


98  THE    NEW    SCIENCE  ■  iUSTD    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

titled  The  State  of  Physick,  wliieli  may  be  found  in  a  volume  of 
Comedies  not  Acted,  that  was  edited  by  John  Genest.  Across  the 
title  page  of  this  comedy  in  the  copy  that  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
-w-riter  was  written  in  a  bold  script  the  name,  "Thos.  Dickinson", 
but  whether  intended  for  the  author  or  not  is  unknown.  "This 
piece  was  never  acted",  says  the  Biographia  Dramatica,  "nor  do  we 
know  who  is  the  author ;  yet  we  conjecture  it  must  have  been  some 
person  of  the  faculty,  since,  if  we  may  be  allowed  a  paltry  quibble, 
it  is  apparent,  that  even  in  the  very  title  page,  to  make  use  of  a 
vulgar  phrase,  He  talks  like  an  apothecary  ".^^^  But,  whoever  the 
author  was,  he  made  his  purpose  plain  enough;  namely,  to  expose 
medical  quackery  and  the  greed  of  apothecaries. 

This  study  is  concerned  only  with  the  three  doctors,  Mody,  Run- 
about, and  Easy.  Mody  is  "A  Physician  of  note,  formal,  and  pre- 
tending to  Learning".  He  is  in  daily  attendance  upon  Lady 
Humane  and  by  his  learned  conversation  keeps  her  bewildered  into 
a  constant  fermentation.  Connected  with  the  waiting  room  of  his 
office  is  his  museum,  with  many  shelves  apparently  filled  with  books. 
On  inspection,  however,  Lord  Humane  finds  them  for  the  most  part 
painted  blocks  of  wood. 

"Mody, — The  Vacuities  are  embellish 'd. — A  shelf  half  filled  has 

such  a  mean  look,  that  your  lordship  will  judge  the  improvement 

not  despicable — 

Runabout, — Nothing  but  the  Fertility  of  your  Cranium,  Doctor, 

could  have  produced,  and  nothing  but  the  Royal  Society  can 

merit  so  serviceable  a  production. 

Mody, — It  shall  be  communicated,  to  be  through  them,  made 

public,  for  the  general  good.  "^^'^ 

This  character  is  a  replica  of  Dr.  Fossil,  with  his  rarities,  his 
"fossils,  shells,  and  butterflies".  From  his  tongue  flow  glibly  the 
cant  phrases  of  medical  quackery.  When  Goody,  the  apothecary, 
fails  to  include  among  some  half  dozen  other  ingredients  a  single 
powder,  Mody  exclaims, — "  'Twas  the  Vehicle  of  all  you  took: 
'Tis  the  Alcahest  of  the  Chymists,  Primum  IMobile  of  the  philoso- 
phers, and  Aqua  Vitae  of  the  Apothecaries  ".^^^    Later,  when  he 

^^  Bioff.  Dram.   IV,  p.   299-300. 

"'  The  State  of  Physick,  Act  III,  sc.  3. 

"8  Ibid.  Act  I,  sc.  2. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  99 

and  his  parasite,  Runabout,  are  alone,  he  confesses, — "But  I  did  my 
Endeavor  to  soothe  her  up  witli  the  usual  jargon  contrived  for  the 
Amusement  of  her  sex".^^^ 

Mody  and  Runabout,  with  all  their  pretense  to  learning  have 
never  taken  a  course  at  tiie  College.  Their  knowledge  has  been 
gained  in  London,  "The  great  English  University".  They  have  as 
associates  rogues  of  other  professions  of  as  deep  a  dye  as  themselves. 
Mody  has  arranged  for  a  dinner  to  which  he  has  invited  Orator 
Puff,  Counsellor  Certiorari,  Alderman  Commerce,  and  Dr.  Gim- 
crack.  And  these  rascals  with  their  brazen  affrontery  are  success- 
ful in  deceiving  their  patients  until  Dr.  Easy  appears.  He  is,  in 
fact,  a  thoroughgoing  sentimental  hero  in  his  relationship  with  Miss 
Worthy ;  as  a  physician,  he  represents  the  first  comic  character  who 
is  deser\4ng  of  respect.  He  makes  no  unfounded  claims  to  knowl- 
edge ;  he  charges  no  exhorbitant  fees ;  he  relies  more  upon  common- 
sense  than  upon  the  nostrums  from  the  apothecaries'  shops.  This 
quiet,  modest  man  rescues  Lady  Humane  from  the  clutches  of  Mody 
and  Runabout,  exposes  them  as  rogues,  and  wins  the  heart  of  Miss 
Worthy.  It  is  a  matter  for  astonishment  to  one  who  has  followed 
the  comic  type  of  physicians  through  this  period  to  hear  him  speak 
as  follows; — 

"Lord  Humane, — Wlio  tells  you.  Nature  is  so  potent  as  you 

make  her  ? 

Dr.  Easy,- — The  great  Hyppocrates,  together  with  that  modem 

Ape  of  his,  good  Sydenham.     Men,  my  Lord, — 

Who  by  discarding  Hypothetic  Rules, 

With  all  the  heavy  Jargon  of  the  Schools; 

Observing  Nature,  Patriots  in  her  Cause! 

And  being  upright  gain'd  themselves  applause  !"^^° 

This  comedy,  with  all  its  dullness,  is  noteworthy  for  two  reasons. 
It  gives,  in  the  first  place,  a  clear,  satiric  exposition  of  the  collusion 
between  dishonest  physicians  and  apothecaries.  The  very  same 
knavery  that  aroused  the  ire  of  Samuel  Garth  in  the  Dispensary 
(1699)  was  still  extant.  This  was  proper  material  for  satire  and 
thoroughly  deserved  the  lashing  it  received.  In  the  second  place, 
there  is  shown  the  first  worthy  doctor,  who  represents  the  earliest 

"»  Ibid. 

""  The  State  of  Physick,  Act  IV,  sc.  4. 


100  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

evidence  that  this  profession  was  attaining  respect.  Both  the  good 
and  the  bad  physicians  lay  claim  to  the  new  science,  but  here  the 
true  representative  is  successful. 

This  is  the  last  representation  of  the  new  science  in  comedy  so 
far  as  this  investigation  has  gone.  There  remain  the  casual  refer- 
ences to  the  new  interest  and  activity,  which  can  at  best  be  only 
indicated.  Such  allusions  will  naturally  be  found  for  the  most  part 
as  figures  of  speech.  Chemistry  has  furnished  many ;  (Bellamour) 
"A  little  of  thy  Chemistry,  Tom,  may  extract  gold  from  that 
dirt".^^^  (Malwit)  "Thy  Chemistry  has  from  that  one  Virtue  ex- 
tracted all  the  rest".^^^  (Setter)  "Sublimate,  if  you  please,  Sir,  I 
think  my  achievements  deserve  the  epithet  ".^^^  (Camillo)  "  'Tis 
the  very  quintessence  and  extract  of  it.  (Vidette)  I  do  not  like 
your  Chemical  preparations  of  love".^-*  Astronomy  is  likewise  a 
familiar  source  of  allusion.  (Angelica)  "What  a  bustle  did  you 
keep  against  the  last  invisible  eclipse ".^-^  (Cynthia)  "You  have 
looked  through  the  wrong  end  of  the  perspective".^^®  (Lady  Froth- 
well)  "Well,  I  swear,  Mr.  Brisk,  you  understand  astronomy  like  an 
old  Egyptian,  (Brisk)  Not  comparable  to  your  Ladyship;  you  are 
the  very  Cynthia  of  the  skies,  and  queen  of  stars.  (Lady  Froth  well) 
That's  because  I  have  no  light  but  what's  by  reflection  from  you, 
who  are  the  sun.  (Brisk)  You  have  eclipsed  me  quite".  Nondes- 
cript references  occur,  usually  as  compliments;  (Lord  Formal) 
"Your  Ladyship's  eyes  are  two  loadstones  that  attract  the  admira- 
tion of  our  whole  sex".^^^  (Young  Pedant)  "Logick  is  in  learning, 
what  the  compass  is  in  navigation.  It  is  the  guide  by  which  our 
reason  steers  in  the  pursuit  of  true  philosophy ".^-^  (Valentine) 
' '  She  is  harder  to  be  understood  than  a  piece  of  Egyptian  antiquity 
or  an  Irish  manuscript".  (Sir  Paul  Plyant)  "I  am  provoked  in- 
to a  fermentation".     (Bellamore)   "A  Fool  is  a  vacuum  in  Na- 

"i  Fielding,  Love  in  Several  Masques,  Act  III,  sc.   10. 

^  Fielding,  The  Temple  Beau,  Act  I,  sc.  1. 

^^  Congreve,  Love  for  Love,  Act  IV,  bc.  21. 

*^  Fielding,  Love  in  Several  Masques,  Act  III,  sc.  10. 

""  Fielding,  The  Temple  Beau,  Act  I,  sc.  1. 

*-"  Congreve,  Love  for  Love,  Act  IV,  sc.  21. 

127  Congreve,  Double  Dealer,  Act  II,  sc.  4. 

"«Durfey,  Madam  Fickle,  Act  II. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  101 

ture. "  These  are  some  of  the  chance  frafrments  blown  about  by 
the  wind  of  literary  allusion.  They  reveal  merely  the  extent  to 
which  scientific  activities  had  entered  into  the  familiar  thought  of 
literary  men.  Presumably  they  would  be  understood  by  the  read- 
ers or  hearers  without  footnotes,  such  as  Siiadwell  found  necessary 
in  The  Lancashire  Witches.  Gradually  the  new  scientific  ideas 
were  making  their  way  into  the  minds  of  men,  but  outworn  beliefs 
were  still  "pensioned  in  dotage"  for  literary  purposes. 

This  study  of  the  representation  of  new  science  in  comedy  has 
revealed  a  fact,  which  might  have  been  deduced  a  priori,  that  the 
same  material  has  been  used  over  and  over  again.  The  writers  of 
comedy  would  not  be  expected  to  become  thorough  students  of 
science;  if  they  had,  their  satire  would  doubtless  not  have  been 
written,  for  then  they  would  have  understood  more  clearly  the 
splendid  work  that  was  being  done  and  they  would  have  appre- 
ciated more  fully  the  sterling  character  of  the  leaders  in  scientific 
thought.  If,  then,  their  knowledge  was  not  deep,  it  might  be  ex- 
pected that  they  would  use  the  most  obvious  sources.  What  are 
they? 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  Royal  Society  was  the  centre  of 
scientific  interest  in  England.  Everyone  seemed  to  understand  the 
references  to  Gresham  College  where  this  society  had  its  beginning 
and  where  it  continued  for  many  years.  Its  official  organ  was  the 
Philosophical  Transactions,  which  was  put  on  sale  at  many  of  the 
bookshops  in  London.  Here,  then,  was  one  obvious  source  of  knowl- 
edge for  the  wits.  It  was  to  this  source  that  Thomas  Shadwell  went 
for  almost  all  of  his  material,  practically  all  of  his  allusions  and 
a  good  part  of  his  phraseology  may  be  traced  to  the  reports  of 
experiments  in  the  Transactions,  just  preceding  the  presentation  of 
his  comedy.  The  Virtuoso.  For  example,  on  respiration,  see  Swam- 
merdam's  letter  Oct.  26,  1667,  and  the  experiment  of  Robert  Hooke, 
Oct.  24,  1667 ;  on  the  transfusion  of  blood,  see  the  report  for  May 
6,  1667,  and  the  experiment  of  Drs.  Lower  and  King  at  the  Arun- 
del House,  Nov.  16,  1666,  for  spiders,  a  discussion  by  I.  Wray, — 
"On  Spiders" — 1668,  for  tarantulas,  review  of  S.  W.  Senguerdius 's 
"de  tarantula,"  1668,  Phil.  Trans,  vol.  Ill,  p.  660;  on  eels  in  vine- 
gar, see  the  letter  from  Leeuwenhoek,  dated  Delft,  April  21,  1676; 


102  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

on  glow-worms,  see  the  report  of  Robert  Boyle,  February  15,  1672; 
on  speaking  trumpets,  see  PJiil.  Trans.  Jan.  27,  1672,  a  report  by 
Sir  Samuel  Moreland.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  Shadwell 
had  access  to  certain  volumes  of  the  Philosophical  Transactions  and 
had  "crammed  up"  for  his  comedy.  As  soon  as  it  appeared,  the 
comedy  itself  would  become  a  new  and  more  easily  accessible  sec- 
ondary source  for  Shadwell 's  successors,  just  as  the  scientific  facts 
were  warmed  over  and  served  diluted  in  the  columns  of  the  Athenian 
Mercury. 

A  second  source  of  material  was  the  books  that  were  being  writ- 
ten by  the  virtuosi.  Sir  Nicholas  Gimcrack's  wild  claims  of  being 
able  to  fly  had  its  origin  in  a  book  by  Dr.  "Wilkins,  The  Discoverer 
of  a  New  World;  Or,  a  Discourse  Tending  to  Prove  that  'tis  Prob- 
able there  may  be  another  Habitable  World  in  the  Moon,  1638.  To 
this  was  appended,  says  Anthony  a  Wood,  a  Discourse  Concerning 
the  Possibility  of  a  Passage  to  the  World  in  the  Moon.^^^  Watts 
attached  to  this  note  of  Wood's  the  following, — "When  at  Wadham 
College  he  (Wilkins)  attempted  to  make  the  art  of  fljdng  prac- 
ticable". Lord  Worcester  kept  the  idea  alive  by  including  in  his 
Century  of  Inventions  (1655)  this  statement  (77), — "How  to  make 
a  Man  to  Fly ;  which  I  have  tried  with  a  little  Boy  of  ten  years  old 
in  a  Barn,  from  one  end  to  the  other,  on  a  Hay-Mow  ".^^^  Ten 
years  later  Robert  Hooke  wrote, — "The  way  of  flying  in  the  air 
seems  principally  impracticable,  by  reason  of  the  want  of  strength 
in  humane  Muscles ;  if  therefore  that  could  be  supplied,  it  were,  I 
think,  easier  to  make  twenty  contrivances  to  perform  the  office  of 
wings"."* 

When  Valeria,  in  her  eager  search  for  truth,  sacrificed  her  pet 
pigeon  on  the  altar  of  science  in  order  to  discover  whether  the  popu- 
lar tradition  that  a  pigeon  and  a  dove  have  no  gall  was  true  or 
false,  she  was  taught  so  to  do  by  Sir  Thomas  BrowTie's  Vidgar 
Errors.  He  records  that  he  tried  the  same  experiment.^"^^  His 
surgical  practice  may  have  given  him  greater  skill  in  dissection,  for 

1^2  Wood,  Anthony  a,  A  then.  Oxon.  vol.  Ill,  col.  969. 

"*  See  also  Milton's  History  of  Britain,  1670,  on  Elmer,  a  Monk  of  Malmesbury, 
Kennet's  History  of  England,  vol.  I,  1706,  Friar  Bacon's  Miracles  of  Art,  Nature,  etc., 
1659. 

^^*  Hooke,  Robert,  Micrographia,  Preface,  p.   19. 

*"  Browne,  Sir  Thomas,  Tulgar  Errors,  vol.  I,  p.  317. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  103 

he  found  the  tradition  false  while  Valeria  thinks  it  is  true.  To 
Sydenham's  Book  of  Fevers  and  a  Discourse  on  Fermentation  (by 
W.  Sympson,  1675)  was  due  the  popular  "fermentation"  idea. 
Ray's  book  of  travels  was  an  inexhaustible  fountain  for  the  comic 
spirit.^''" 

Another  source  of  material  was  the  popular  lectures  on  the  new 
science.  Yearly  there  was  a  free  course  of  lectures  given  in  Lon- 
don on  the  Boyle  Foundation,  beginning  early  in  the  90  *s.  The 
ablest  scientists  were  called  to  this  service,  and  large  crowds  of 
people  assembled  to  hear  them.  At  these  lectures  experiments  were 
performed,  at  least  on  occasion,  for  Desaguliers,  a  popularizer  of 
science  during  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  developed 
his  Royal  Lectures  into  a  book  of  two  volumes,  entitled  A  Course 
of  Experimental  Philosophy,  1744.  This  scientist  also  gave  private 
popular  lectures  year  by  year  in  the  city,  as  did  others.^'^'^ 

A  fourth  source  of  material  was  rumor.  The  sensational  ex- 
periments, such  as  the  transfusion  of  blood  from  a  sheep  into  a 
man,  would  spread  by  report  through  the  city.  According  to 
Pepys,  there  was  a  long  discussion  over  the  advisability  of  inviting 
the  Duchess  of  Newcastle  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the  Royal  Society 
lest  the  town  should  be  full  of  ballads  on  the  event.^^^  If  such  a 
simple  incident  would  be  noised  abroad,  how  much  more  a  sensa- 
tional experiment. 

Another  method  by  w^hich  scientific  activity  became  known  was 
the  return  of  students  from  the  university.  The  "pert  young 
Soph"  would  not  only  boast  of  his  knowledge  of  "violent  Motions", 
of  "Atoms  and  Globuli","''  but  w^ould  also  report  whatever  was 
sensational.  The  physicians,  for  instance,  had  difficulty  in  keep- 
ing their  dissections  private ;  wild  stories  were  spread  abroad  as  to 
the  source  of  the  bodies  and  the  manner  of  dissecting  them.  A 
burlesque  on  such  practices  is  contained  in  F.  Coventry's  Pompey 
The  Little,  1750. 

The  collecting  of  "rarities"  had  become  such  a  fad  by  the  early 
years  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  no  dramatist  needed  to  want 

130  Wright,  Thos.,  The  Female  Virtuosoes,  Witlfss's  Tale  of  my  Travels. 

"^  Supra,  chap.  I,  p.  16. 

^3«  Pepys,  Samuel,  Biary,  May  30,   1667. 

^^  Supra,   chap.   I,  p.   14. 


104  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND   ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

for  material.  John  Tradescant  of  Lambeth  was  the  great  leader  of 
the  new  interest  in  the  seventeenth  century,  from  whose  efforts  the 
Aslimolean  Museum  was  first  stocked.  But  countless  others  were 
"infected".  The  older  seventeenth  antiquarians  were  Burton, 
Browne,  Walton ;  the  later  ones  were  Llwyd,  Plot,  Ralph  Thoresby, 
Elias  Ashmole.  In  the  eighteenth  century  all  the  physicians  who 
pretended  to  social  distinction  had  their  collections  ;^*°  and  gentle- 
men and  ladies  of  leisure  sought  for  curiosities,  coins,  manuscripts, 
old  and  rare  copies  of  books,  "pickled  hieroglyphics",  and  whatever 
rust  had  corrupted  and  age  had  dimmed.  Such  gentlemen  of  dis- 
tinction as  Lord  Montague  and  Lord  Winchilsea  were  much  inter- 
ested in  antiquarian  researches  in  England  and  elsewhere.  The  in- 
terest lived  on  through  the  Whartons,  Gray,  and  Horace  Walpole, 
and  has  not  yet  passed  away.  Besides,  before  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  coffee-houses  were  advertising  collections  of  "rari- 
ties"."^ There  was,  also,  the  work  of  such  scientific  classifica- 
tionists  as  Ray,  Morison,  Willoughby,  Grew,  Malpighi,  and  Wood- 
ward.^^-"  To  the  lay  mind  these  men,  too,  were  hunting  curiosities. 
Everywhere  there  was  material  ready  at  hand  for  the  writers  of 
comedy. 

The  men  and  women  who  professed  a  dominating  interest  in 
science  were,  in  the  seventeenth  century  comic  parlance,  fools,  one 
and  all;  that  is,  they  were  possessed  by  a  humor.  "No  Phantas- 
tick",  says  Bruce  of  Sir  Nicholas,  "that  has  lost  his  Wits  in  Revela- 
tion, is  so  mad  as  this  Fool",  "You  are  mistaken",  Longvil  an- 
swers, "this  is  but  a  faint  Copy  to  some  Originals  of  the  Tribe "."^'^ 
Valeria  is  a  "Daughter  run  mad  after  Philosophy";  Periwinkle 
has  "maggots  enough  in  his  own  brain  to  stock  all  the  virtuosoes  in 
Europe  with  butterflies";  Lady  Maurice  is  "possessed";  Crispin  be- 
lieves that,  unless  "the  world  belies  'em,  there  are  many  physicians 
just  as  great  fools  as  myself";  Mopus  is  following  "Quixotism  in 
Philosophy";  Gainlove  thinks  "there  is  no  great  Difference  between 
a  Philosopher  and  a  Lover  only  the  first  is  the  more  reasonable 

'*»Be8Bnt,  Walter,  London  in  the  18th  Cent.,  Medicine. 

^"  Supra,  chap.  I,  p.  18. 

142a  Woodward,  Physician  and  Antiquarian,  was  satirized  by  the  triumvirate.  Gay, 
Pope,  Arbuthnot,  in  Three  Hours  After  Marriage.  Of.  also  the  farce  Harlequin  Hydaspes; 
or,  The  Greshamite,  1722. 

»*2b  The  Virtuoso,  Act  V. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  105 

Madness  of  the  two".  And  yet  to  be  a  "fool"  with  Boyle  and 
Newton  is  better  than  to  be  witty — with  some  dramatists. 

Fools  are  pretenders.  The  knowledge  which  the  scientists  pro- 
fess in  comedy  is  all  bluff;  if  it  be  a  virtue,  they  have  it  not.  Sir 
Nicholas,  when  face  to  face  with  the  mob,  confesses  he  never  did 
anything  of  use;  Valeria  deserts  her  "dear,  dear  Philosophy"  for 
the  arms  of  her  lover;  Veterano,  for  all  his  study  of  "rarities",  is 
easily  fooled  with  some  "modern  antiques";  Dr.  Boliardo,  after 
years  of  observing  the  moon,  is  deceived  into  thinking  he  sees  a 
nymph  up  there  when  Scaramouch  holds  a  picture  before  the  tele- 
scope; Fossil  can  not  distinguish  between  a  real  mummy  or  a  real 
alligator  and  men  dressed  in  costumes  from  the  theatre.  IMopus 
finds  "terms"  (learned  language)  to  be  three-fourths  the  physi- 
cian's knowledge;  Drench  and  Gregory  become  doctors  without  a 
course  in  medicine ;  Lady  Science  is  "  a  great  Pretender  to  Phil- 
osophy". None  of  these  "inferior  members  of  the  tribe"  have  the 
learning  which  they  profess. 

But,  even  although  they  did  have  the  knewledge,  says  comedy, 
it  would  be  of  no  use.  Here  is  the  essential  criticism  in  all  of  this 
satiric  representation  of  science.  "This  foolish  Virtuoso  does  not 
consider  that  one  Bricklayer  is  worth  forty  Philosophers"."^  "So 
it  is  Knowledge,  'tis  no  matter  of  what","*  says  Longvil  of  Sir 
Nicholas.  "And  yet,  by  your  favor,  Sir,  of  what  use  can  they 
IjgM  143  Pedro  inquires  of  Veterano,  the  Antiquary.  The  greatest 
virtuoso  of  them  all  had  not  ' '  invented  even  so  much  as  an  Engyne 
to  pare  Cheese  with"."®  The  study  of  antiquities  only  wasted  good 
money;  the  study  of  insects  and  fishes  and  all  the  phenomena  of 
nature  merely  cracked  the  brains,  spoiled  women  for  wives,"^  men 
for  husbands,"*  made  girls  foolish,"'^  boys  pedantic. ^'^°  Such  knowl- 
edge might  be  a  very  fine  thing;  but  "there's  no  Philosophy  like 
Love",  there  is  no  science  equal  to  commonsense.     Therefore,  Sir 

^*^The  rirtuoso,  Act  IV,  Bruce. 
i^Ibid.  Act  III. 
^*^The  Antiquary,  Act  II. 
>«  The  Virtuoso,  Act  V. 

"'  The  Female  Virtuosoes,  Sir  Maurice, — "Who  ■would  marry  Wit". 
'*8  The    Cheats,    Mrs.    Mopus, — "I    wonder   what   I'm   better   for    a    husband   in    you. 
Here  you  sit  moping  and  moping  all  day  upon  a  book,"  Act  I,  sc.  3. 
^**  Of.   Valeria   and   Sophronia. 
""Of.  Carlos. 


106  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

Nicholas  repents;  Dr.  Boliardo  sees  "there  is  nothing  in  this  Phil- 
osophy"; Carlos  is  "made  a  man"  out  of  a  pedant  by  discarding 
learning;  Valeria  flings  away  Philosophy  for  a  lover;  Sophronia 
finds  "there's  no  Philosophy  against  Love, — Solon  for  that".  Here 
are  good  demonstrative  reasons  why  philosophy  is  worthless. 
Once  these  men  and  women  were  blinded  with  this  scientific  humor, 
but  now  they  see  with  the  eyes  of  commonsense. 

"So  I  think  these  excellent  men  do  highly  deserve  Commenda- 
tion for  these  seemingly  useless  labours,  and  the  more,  since  they 
run  the  hazard  of  being  laughed  at  by  Men  of  "Wit  and  Satyr,  who 
always  have  their  End,  if  they  make  their  Readers  Sport,  whether 
the  thing  which  they  expose  deserves  to  be  ridiculed  or  not".^^^ 
Wotton  has  here  expressed  accurately  the  attitude  of  the  writers 
of  comedy  who  "exposed"  the  scientific  humor.  There  is  no  dis- 
crimination between  the  good  and  the  bad,  between  true  worth  and 
pretense.  A  part  of  this  attitude  was  due  to  the  spirit  of  the  age 
which  was  to  "expose"  everything  that  was  exposable;  the  wits 
were  no  respecters  of  persons.  Another  part  was  due  to  the  gen- 
eral lack  of  understanding  of  what  was  actually  being  done.  Such 
opponents  of  the  Royal  Society  as  Dr.  Henry  Stubbe  would  not 
hesitate  to  create  the  wrong  impression  of  the  scientific  work,  if 
only  they  could  make  their  point.  Hobbes  expended  a  vast  deal 
of  energy  combating  his  "man  of  straw".  The  very  fact  that 
Sprat  and  Boyle  and  Glanvil  and  Wotton  took  pains  to  explain  at 
great  length  the  nature  and  possible  value  of  the  Royal  Society's 
work  show^s  a  wide-spread  misunderstanding.  "I  observe  the  in- 
competency of  their  Judgments,  who  are  enemies  to  the  Real  Ex- 
perimental Philosophy,  in  that  they  do  not  (as  I  intimated)  at  all, 
or  very  little,  understand  what  they  condemn.  This  I  have  some 
reason  to  say,  since  in  the  whole  compass  of  my  Acquaintances, 
which  is  not  very  narrow,  I  profess  I  know  not  one  who  opposeth 
the  Modem  Way,  that  is  not  almost  totally  unacquainted  with 
it".^" 

A  third  part  of  the  attitude  grew  out  of  a  wilful  and  conscious 
misrepresentation  of  facts.  Shadwell  deliberately  garbled  his  quo- 
tations from  the  Philosophical  Transactions.     Sir  Nicholas's  dis- 

**!  Wotton,   William,   Reflections,  etc.  pp.   274-5. 

'^2  Glanvil,  Joseph,  Essay  III,  p.  53  and  Glanvil,  Joseph,  Essay  III.  pp.  274-5. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  107 

courses  on  ants,  for  example,  was  taken  from  a  report  by  Dr. 
King,  March  H,  1666,  "Concerning  Emmets  or  Ants,  their  Eggs, 
Production,  Progress,  Coming  to  Maturity,  Use,  etc."^"  This  is  a 
case  of  malicious  misrepresentation.  The  experiments  are  puerile 
enough  to  be  sure,  but  the  effort  is  an  honest  one ;  the  truth,  whether 
worth  knowing  or  not,  is  sincerely  sought.  By  Shadwell's  own 
definition  this  is  not  a  legitimate  field  for  his  satire ;  for  here  is  no 
affectation,  no  presumption.  Or,  again,  he  consciously  misrepre- 
sented facts  in  his  satire  on  "eels  in  vinegar",  which  appears  in 
The  Virtuoso  and  was  copied  from  it  in  The  Basset-Tahle.  The 
source  of  this  material  is  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Royal 
Society  by  Leeuwenhoek  from  Delft,  April  21,  1676.^^*  This  scien- 
tist had  been  making  some  microscopical  experiments  with  "wine  of 
last  year's  gro^\i:h".  "In  this  wine,  I  have  divers  times  observed 
small  living  Creatures,  shaped  like  Eels",  etc.  "Eels  in  vinegar" 
are  ridiculous  enough,  but  the  discovery  of  microbes  (bacilli)  is  a 
great  and  serious  scientific  event.  Or,  finally,  there  is  a  culpable 
vilification  in  the  satire  on  the  transfusion  of  blood,  which  was  in 
fact  a  seven  days'  wonder  in  London.^^^  This  operation  was  tried 
many  times  in  England  as  well  as  in  France  and  Italy.  The  first 
case  reported  to  the  Royal  Society  was  June  20,  1665, — a  trans- 
fusion between  two  dogs.  During  the  month  of  July,  1667,  news 
reached  London  of  two  operations  performed  in  Paris,  in  which  the 
blood  was  transfused  from  a  sheep  into  a  maniac.  Several  mem- 
bers of  the  Society  being  therefore  eager  to  try  it  for  themselves, 
a  committee  waited  on  Dr.  Allen,  Physician  to  the  Hospital  (Bed- 
lam) to  ask  for  a  "victim".  "The  truth  on  it  is,  we  shall  never 
get  any  but  Mad-men  for  that  operation  ".^^'*  The  request  was 
not  granted,  but  in  November,  1667,  the  experiment  was  really 
performed  at  the  Arundel  House  where  the  Society  was  then 
meeting.  Arthur  Coga,  a  poor  student,  offered  himself  a  willing 
sacrifice  for  a  guinea.  Pepys  says  the  fellow  was  "phantastic", 
and  Dr.  King  writes  of  him, — "He  spoke  Latin  well,  but  that  his 
Brain  was  sometimes  a  little  warm".     About   twelve   ounces  of 

^Phil.  Trans.  Mar.   11,   1666. 

>"Ibid.  April  21,    1676. 

i«Cf.  Phil.   Trans. 

"*  The    Virtuoso,   Act   IV,    Sir   Nicholas   Gimcrack. 


108  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

blood  was  transfused  with  success  and  reported  benefit.  The  oper- 
ation was  repeated  December  12th  of  the  same  year,  again  with 
success.  At  once  the  imagination  began  to  picture  the  most  won- 
derful possibilities,  according  to  the  writers  of  comedy.  The  words 
of  Oldenburg,  however,  are  words  of  sober  sense  and  express  more 
clearly  the  conservative  attitude  of  the  scientists.  "It  seems  not 
irrational  to  guess  aforehand,  that  the  exchange  of  Blood  will 
not  alter  the  Nature  or  Disposition  of  Animals,  upon  which  it 
shall  be  practiced;  though  it  may  be  thought  worth  while  for  the 
satisfaction  and  certainty  to  determine  that  point  by  Experi- 
ments".^" "The  most  probable  Use  of  this  Experiment  may  be 
conjectured  to  be  that  one  Animal  may  live  with  the  Blood  of  an- 
other ".^^®  Modern  science  has  proved  this  to  be  true.  Thus  were 
facts  transformed  in  the  Great  Alembic  of  satire. 

As  the  physicians  in  the  eighteenth  century  were  distinguished 
by  their  "full-bottomed  wigs,  cloudy-headed  canes,  and  sober  de- 
meanor," so  the  scientist  was  known  by  his  "learned  language", — 
in  comedies.  Sir  Nicholas 's  '  *  emittent  and  recipient ",  "  humid  ele- 
ment", "superficies",  cacochymious ",  Valeria's  pedantic  Acci- 
dent, Substance,  Lumbricus  Laetus,  Fossils,  Lapis  Lydius,  were  as- 
sumed to  be  the  general  learned  style  of  speech  and  writing.  The 
representation  is  manifestly  unfair.  Bishop  Sprat  has  stated  the 
ideal  of  scientific  writing  fully,^""  and  followed  it  himself.  Boyle 
has  a  clear,  unaffected  style ;  Glanvil  and  Hooke  wrote  in  a  terse, 
compact,  direct  manner,  far  on  the  road  toward  Addison.  The  gen- 
erality of  scientists  could  write  and  did  write,  simply  and  unaf- 
fectedly.    "The  virtues  of  scientific   writing  spread and 

wrought  with  the  instinct  of  conversation  and  social  amenity,  and 
with  the  love  of  argument  and  pleading  and  oratory,  to  form 
modern  style.  "^^^  Though  the  terms  in  comedy  are  the  real  terms 
of  science,  the  style  is  the  style  of  the  rhetorician,  not  the  scientist. 

Not  all  scientific  material  was  suited  for  comedy.     The  wits 

^T  Phil.  Trans.  Dec.   17,   1666,  p.  357. 

>»8  Ibid.  p.  358. 

*°®  Sprat,  Thomas,  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  "And  to  accomplish  this  they  have 
endeavor'd  to  separate  Knowledge  of  Nature  from  the  Colours  of  Rhetoric,  the  Deceits 
of  Fancy,  or  the  Deceits  of  Fables,"  p.  62.  "Preferring  the  language  of  Artizans,  Country- 
men, and  Merchants,  before  that  of  Wits  and  Scholars."  p.   113. 

""Elton,   Oliver,  The  Angustan  Ages,  p.   420. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  COMEDY  109 

knew  this  and  selected  with  some  care  the  more  sensational  ex- 
periments. By  thus  emphasizing  and  exaggerating  the  startling 
things  all  scientific  endeavors  were  made  ridiculous.  If  there  had 
not  heen  a  substantial  basis  of  commonsense  for  the  new  phil- 
osophy, if  it  had  not  really  been  largely  established  upon  "the 
two  great  pillars  of  truth,  Reason  and  Experience",  it  would  have 
been  laughed  away,  as  Cervantes  served  chivalry. 

When  a  general  survey  is  taken  of  this  form  of  literary  ex- 
pression for  the  new  science,  a  sense  of  disappointment  is  felt. 
Among  all  these  "Wits  and  Railleurs"  there  is  a  lack  of  apprecia- 
tion of  both  men  and  achievements.  There  is  not  a  single  char- 
acter in  the  comedies  worthy  of  respect  so  long  as  it  is  dominated 
by  the  scientific  humor,  not  one  but  bears  the  contempt,  justly 
earned,  of  all  his  friends,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  senti- 
mental hero.  Dr.  Easy,  in  The  State  of  PhysicJc.  The  man  of 
science,  as  the  play-writers  presented  him,  is  despicable  because 
he  is  a  "fool",  engaged  in  the  vain  pursuit  of  useless  knowledge, 
a  pedant,  a  pretender  to  learning,  wholly  absorbed  in  an  interest 
outside  the  social  realm  of  London  society  folk.  He  is  never  wholly 
relieved  from  the  taint  of  pseudo-science,  but  he  is  no  longer  a 
"vague,  pee\ish  pedant,  much  occupied  with  phj'-siognomies, 
dreams,  and  fanatic  ideas  as  to  the  properties  and  powers  of  vari- 
ous substances ".^^^  This  was  the  old  student  of  occult  science, 
not  the  Baconian  philosopher.  The  worst  fault  of  the  new  scien- 
tist was  to  devote  his  time  and  money  to  the  investigation  of  in- 
sects and  to  the  collection  of  rarities;  he  did  not  study  his  "coun- 
try's good  but  her  insects." 

The  actual  achievement  in  science  was  not  appreciated  by  the 
play-writers.  In  comedy  the  scientist  frittered  away  his  time  in 
gazing  at  the  moon,  in  poring  over  insects,  or  in  useless  specula- 
tion; he  never  invented  anything  so  useful  as  a  mouse-trap  or 
an  engine  to  pare  cheese  with;  he  collected  curiosities  only  to  have 
a  house  built  for  them ;  he  sought  knowledge  for  its  own  sake.  In 
reality,  the  scientist  discovered  the  law  of  gravitation  and  founded 
modern  botany,  geology  and  physiology ;  he  invented  the  air-pump, 
the  thermometer,  the  barometer,  the  steam-engine;  he  prepared 
the  way  for  the  later  writing  of  history  and  saved  many  a  manu- 

>«>  Shipley,  A.  E.,   Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature,  VIII,   419. 


110  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

script  which  the  world  would  not  now  willingly  let  perish.  A 
bricklayer  was  worth  forty  philosophers  of  comedy;  and  yet  the 
period  produced  some  immortal  names.  One  is  led  to  guess 
shrewdly  that  the  superficiality  of  the  scientist  in  comedy  is  due 
largely  to  the  superficial  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  play-writers. 
To  them  it  was  a  humor  and  nothing  more. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  New  Science  and  Poetry 

The  new  science  was  but  a  minor  interest  in  a  complex,  un- 
settled period  and  was  forced  to  compete  with  politics,  society, 
and  religion  for  popular  attention.  It  is  true,  that,  where  the 
conflict  between  "ancient  faith"  and  new  philosophy  was  sharp- 
est, where  commonsense  and  reason  met  in  mortal  combat  with 
witchcraft,  astrology,  and  inherited  beliefs,  science  came  into  due 
prominence.  It  was  like  the  breaking  of  a  wave  upon  a  rugged 
shoreline,  the  force  of  the  onward  movement  being  revealed  by 
obstruction.  But,  necessarily,  to  the  vast  majority  of  men  the  new 
interest  was  a  thing  apart  from  the  real  life  of  London,  merely  a 
voice  faint  in  the  distance,  and  the  new  ideas  were  incidental. 
For  the  group  of  men  comprising  the  Royal  Society  was  never 
large,  the  active  investigators  never  numbering  above  a  dozen,  and 
they  had  avowedly  sought  refuge  in  study  from  the  turmoil  and 
publicity  of  the  times. 

The  work  of  the  new  philosophers,  however,  while  not  set  on 
a  candlestick,  was  not  hidden  under  a  bushel.  Some  knowledge 
of  their  observations  and  experiments  made  its  way  into  the  popu- 
lar mind  through  publications,  popular  lectures,  the  universities, 
and  rumor.  "The  town  was  filled  with  ballads",  it  must  be  re- 
membered, upon  the  visit  of  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle  to  a  meeting 
of  the  Royal  Society.^  The  virtuosi  appeared  frequently  upon  the 
stage  in  comedies;  Sir  Nicholas  Gimcrack  gave  his  name  to  scien- 
tific apparatus  and  "rarities"  as  early  as  1676.  One  may  assume 
that  practically  all  educated  men  in  London  and  vicinity  knew 
something  of  the  new  science.  It  could  not  fail,  therefore,  to 
receive  some  manner  of  representation  by  the  poets  of  the  period, 
aside  from  those  who  were  brought  into  intimate  contact  with  it. 
A  discussion  of  this  literary  expression  falls  naturally  into  three 
parts :  ( 1 )  The  exploitation  of  the  new  interest  by  the  satirists, 
(2)  the  appreciation  which  the  new  philosophy  found  among  the 
men  of  poetic  imagination,  and  (3)  the  contribution  of  "imagina- 
tions and  similitudes"  to  poetic  imagery. 

iPepys's  Diary,  May  30,   1667. 


112  TIIE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

I 

The  satirists  of  the  period,  the  "Wits  and  Railleurs",  repre- 
sent in  general  one  kind  of  attitude  and  may,  therefore,  be  classed 
together.     Their  avowed  purpose  was  to  unmask  pretense;  they 
professed  to  Avage  war  against  vice.     "Sincere  or  not,  satire  is 
essentially  a  kind  of  writing  which  pretends  to  unmask  pretense".^ 
Joseph  Hall,  the  father  of  this  kind  of  verse  in  England,  wrote, — 
"The  satire  should  be  like  the  porcupine 
That  shoots  sharp  quilles  out  in  each  angry  line, 
And  wounds  the  blushing  cheek  and  fiery  eye 
Of  him  that  hears,  and  readeth  guiltily. 


Meanwhile,  sufficeth  me,  the  world  may  say 

That  I  these  vices  loath 'd  another  day.  "^ 

Andrew  Marvell   eloquently  declared  that   "when  the  sword 

glitters  over  the  judge's  head  and  the  churchmen  are  silenced 

through  fear,  then  is  the  poet's  time,  'tis  then  he  drawls  and  single 

fights  forsaken  virtues  cause."*     "Satire,"  wrote  Dryden,  "is  a 

kind  of  poetry invented  for  the  purging  of  our  mind; 

in  which  human  vices,  ignorance,  and  errors,  and  all  things  be- 
sides, which  are  produced  from  them  in  every  man  are  severely 
reprehended".^  Swuft  said,  "There  are  tw^o  ends  that  men  pro- 
pose in  writing  satire,  one private  satisfaction  and  pleas- 
ure of  the  writer the  other a  public  spirit 

prompting  men  of  genius  and  virtue  to  mend  the  world  as  far  as 
they  are  able"."  The  great  master  of  satiric  verse.  Pope,  added, — 
"And  indeed  there  is  not  in  the  world  a  greater  error,  than  that 
which  Fools  are  so  apt  to  fall  into,  and  Knaves  with  good  reason 
to  encourage,  the  mistaking  a  satirist  for  a  Libeller;  whereas  to 
a  true  Satirist  nothing  is  so  odious  as  a  Libeller,  for  the  same 
reason  as  to  a  man  truly  virtuous  nothing  is  so  hateful  as  a  Hypo- 
crite."^ The  purpose  of  satire,  thus  expounded,  seems  worthy 
and  justifiable.  No  man  need  be  ashamed  to  fight  for  virtue  and 
truth  against  vice  and  error. 

»  Wendell,   Barrett,   The  Temper  of  the  17th  Century  Lit.  p.   336. 

•Hall,  Joseph,  Bk.  Y,   Sat.  III. 

♦Marvell,  Andrew,  Tom  May's  Death,  11,  63-66. 

*  Dryden,  John,  Essay  on  Satire. 

*  Intelligencer  III. 

'  Pope,  Alexander,  Satire  and  Epistles  of  Horace,  Advertisement. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  113 

This  high  satiric  ideal,  however,  was  not  always  followed.  Too 
many  writers  of  verse  found  **the  easiest  way  to  be  witty  is  to 
be  cynical";*  others  were  "goaded  into  inspiration"  by  malice 
or  personal  grudge;  others,  still,  followed  the  fashion  set  by  their 
betters  and  railed  indiscriminately  against  the  world;  too  few 
sought  with  fairness  and  candor  to  discover  truth  and  laugh  fol- 
lies away.  Satiric  verse,  like  the  satiric  comedy,  exploited  the 
humors  of  men.  Weaknesses  were  exaggerated;  foibles  were  mag- 
nified; characters  were  defamed.  To  the  satirists  men  were  either 
"Fools"  or  "Knaves",  and  this  age  was  counted  the  most  de- 
plorable in  the  history  of  the  world.  Their  general  attitude  was 
one  of  contempt.  "However  exalted  the  satirist's  aims,  or  aimable 
his  temper,  a  basis  of  contempt  is  the  ground  work  of  his  art".^ 
"A  man  could  not  write  with  life  unless  he  were  heated  by  re- 
venge," said  Burnett  of  the  Earl  of  Rochester.^" 

It  was  not  to  be  expected,  therefore,  that  the  new  philosophers 
would  receive  fair  treatment  from  these  wits,  or  that  the  new  ideas 
would  find  appreciation  among  them.  In  spite  of  their  protests 
to  the  contrary  the  satirists  were  looking  for  someone  or  something 
from  which  to  raise  a  laugh.  "To  make  jests,  to  live  and  move  in 
the  ludicrous,  to  find  fun  in  everything  under  heaven  and  over 
hell,  or  even  within  these  realms  themselves,  so  far  as  they  were 
voted  to  exist,  was  the  business  of  the  popular  Restoration  writ- 
gpgMii  They  were  merciless  in  their  ridicule  and  undiscriminat- 
ing  in  their  attacks.  Hence,  the  new  science  was  an  easy  prey  for 
them,  for  "of  all  men  the  most  subject  to  ridicule  are  philoso- 
phers".^- 

Early  in  the  period  rises  the  sullen  and  morose  figure  of  Samuel 
Butler,  whose  poetic  fame  rests  upon  Hudibras.  In  this  poem  he 
ridicules  with  utter  abandon  "every  theory  of  the  physical  order 
of  the  universe,  whether  founded  on  the  deductive  or  inductive 
system  of  philosophy  ".^^  His  attack  was  aimed  primarily  at  as- 
trology. Sidrophel  and  his  servant  Whachum  embody  that 
pseudo-science.     But  the  claims  of  the  master  are  unbounded, — 

*  Stephens,  Leslie,  History  of  the  Literature  and  Society  in  18th  Cent.,  p.  63. 

^Ency.   Brit.,  XXI,   p.   317,    15th  Ed. 

^^  Lives,   p.   204. 

^1  Masson,  David,   Life   of  Milton,   vol.  VI,  p.   343. 

1=  Ibid.   vol.   VI,   p.   284. 

"  Courthope,  J.  W.,  Hist,  of  Eng.  Poetry,  vol.  Ill,  p.  304. 


114  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

' '  He  had  been  long  t  'wards  Mathematics, 

Optics,  philosophy,  and  statics, 

Magic,  horoscopy,  astrology. 

And  was  old  dog  at  physiology. ' '  ^* 
Here  is  a  quack  who  has  taken  over  the  interests  of  the  true 
science  also.  He  has  made  all  the  new  discoveries  in  the  moon, 
has  located  the  seas,  lakes  and  mountains  there ;^^  he  "cures  warts 
and  corns,  with  application  of  medicines  to  the  imagination";^^ 
he  has  studied  maggots  in  cheese,  mites  in  vinegar  and  wood;^'' 
he  is  an  antiquarian,  learned  in  "hieroglyphics  mute  of  birds"  on 
the  oriental  obelisk  ;^^  he  is  a  star-gazer  like  Galileo  and  the  other 
astronomers;^^  and,  in  general,  he  professes  a  universal  knowl- 
edge.^" And  yet  he  could  not  tell  the  "natural  cause"  why  no 
painter  ever  draws  a  full  moon  on  a  sign  but  always  the  half.^^ 
Here  is  a  type  characteristic  of  the  writers  of  comedy;  in  other 
words,  here  is  an  exploitation  of  a  humor. 

This  work  of  exploitation  is  thoroughly  done;  almost  nothing 
escapes.  The  vortex  theory  of  Descartes,-^  the  new  atomic  theory 
in  physiology,^^  transfusion  of  blood,"*  the  stentrophonic  tube,^^ 
botanical  study,^^  the  use  of  pendulum  watches,"  "Napier's 
bones  ",^^  mathematical  calculations,^^  sympathetic  powder,^"  the 
collection     of     "monstrous     births",^^      chemistry,^^      "bottled 

"Part  II,  c.   3,  1.   205. 

«Ibid.  251-71. 

Mlbid.   287. 

"Ibid.   317-23. 

"Ibid.  403-412. 

"Ibid.  413. 

s'lbid.   397. 

=iPart  II,  c.  3,  1.   783. 

22  Ibid.  871. 

»Ibid.  1121. 

"Ibid.   1229-52. 

26  Pt.  Ill,  c.  1,  1.  251-2. 

"Ibid.   328-9, 

"Ibid.  449. 

28  Pt.  Ill,  c.  2,  1.  409. 

20  Pt.  I,   c.   1,   1.   119-26. 

soPt.  I,  c.  2,  1.  223-8. 

»>  Pt.   II,   c.    1,   63-7. 

»2pt.    II,   c.    1,   423-6. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  115 

^jj,M^33 — j^ij  gj.g  jjgj.g  turned  to  ridicule  by  this  satirist  soured  by- 
long  deferred  hope  of  advancement.  There  is  evidence  that  he 
knew  what  the  virtuosi  were  doing,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  he  saw  any  good  in  their  efforts.  His  real  attitude  is 
hard  to  determine,  as  is  that  of  every  satirist;  but,  prima  facie, 
he  classed  Sidrophel,  who  is  probably  the  famous  almanac-maker 
Lilly,  among  the  new  philosophers  and  on  an  equality  wdth  them. 
The  telescopic  investigation  of  the  heavens  was  to  him  only  a 
continued  study  of  astrology;  physiology  was  medical  quackery; 
mechanical  inventions  were  mere  toys;  and  geometry  was  useful 
for  "taking  the  size  of  a  pot  of  ale". 

Some  new  light,  however,  may  be  thrown  on  Butler's  satiric 
motive  by  his  later  poems,  which  deal  with  the  same  subject.  The 
Elephant  in  the  Moon  was  inspired  by  personal  animosity  towards 
Sir  Paul  Neal,  who  had  persistently  declared  that  Butler  w^as  not 
the  author  of  Hudibras.  The  inference  from  his  declaration  was 
that  Butler  could  not  have  written  such  a  poem-.  This  was  taken 
as  an  affront  and  was  never  forgiven.  It  was  well  known  that  the 
nobleman  was  a  member  of  the  Royal  Society;  Butler  took  ad- 
vantage of  this  fact  in  the  poem,  where  he  represented  Sir  Paul 
Neal  and  a  group  of  the  philosophers  as  meeting  for  an  observation 
of  the  moon  through  a  telescope  into  which  by  chance  a  mouse  has 
crept.  Neal  sees  the  mouse  in  the  tube  and  thinks  it  an  elephant 
in  the  moon.  The  others  look  and  verify  his  report.  Imm^iately 
they  set  to  work  to  write  up  this  sensational  discovery  for  the 
Transactions,  but  before  they  have  completed  the  report  some  boys 
look  into  the  telescope  and  identify  the  mouse.  Great  disappoint- 
ment results  among  the  virtuosi  at  the  loss  of  this  sensational 
story.  Finally,  they  decide  to  report  it  even  though  false,  with 
the  understanding  that  all  will  swear  to  its  truth.  Their  position 
is  thus  stated, — 

"It  is  no  wonder  we're  cry'd  down. 
And  made  the  talk  of  the  town 
That  rants  and  swears,  for  aU  our  great 
Attempts,   we  have  done  nothing  yet. 
If  ev'ry  one  have  leave  to  doubt, 
When  some  great  secret's  half  made  out; 

»Pt.  II,  c.  2,  343-4. 


116  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

And,    'cause  perhaps  it  is  not  true, 
Obstruct,  and  ruin  all  we  do. 
As  no  great  act  was  ever  done, 
Nor  ever  can,  with  truth  alone; 
If  nothing  else  but  Truth  w'  allow 
'Tis  no  great  Matter  what  we  do, 
For  Truth  is  too  reserv'd  and  nice, 
T'  appear  in  mix'd  societies."^* 
It  is,  they  say,  far  easier  to  create  a  thing  like  truth  than  to 
take  the  pains  to  discover  truth  itself.     "But  nature  would  not  be 
thus  forsworn,   and  for  their  pretended  knowledge  Butler  paid 
them  scorn". 

Butler  apparently  nursed  his  wrath  to  keep  it  warm  against 
Sir  Paul  Neal.  Nor,  indeed,  did  he  confine  his  animosity  to  this 
one  virtuoso.  Other  characters  can  be  identified  in  the  poem,  as 
Evelyn,  Hooke,  Leeuwenhoek,  and  perhaps  Boyle.  The  whole  group 
were  under  his  ban  and  were  ridiculed  without  discrimination. 

A  later  fragment,  A  Satire  upon  the  Royal  Society,  shows  that 
Butler's  mind  returned  to  this  theme  persistently.  It  is  clear  that 
he  contemplated  an  extensive  satire  on  the  new  philosophers. 
These  fragmentary  lines  contain  merely  an  enumeration  of  the 
various  scientific  activities.  Comets,  meteors,  light,  magnetism,  the 
course  of  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  atmosphere, — these  were  all  their 
learned  speculations, 

"And  all  their  constant  occupations; 
To  measure  wind,  and  weigh  the  air. 
And  turn  the  circle,  to  a  square; 
To  make  a  powder  of  the  sun, 
By  which  all  doctors  should  b'  undone; 
To  find  the  Northwest  passage  out, 
Although  the  farthest  way  about ; 
If  chymists  from  a  rose's  ashes 
Can  raise  the  rose  itself  in  glasses; 
Wliether  the  line  of  incidents 
Rise  from  the  object  or  the  sense ; 
To  stew  the  Elixir  in  a  bath 
Of  hope,  credulity,  and  faith ; 

*•  Butler,    Samuel,   The  Elephant  in  the   Moon. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  117 

To  explicate,  by  subtle  hints, 
The  grain  of  diamonds  and  flints; 
And  in  the  braying  of  an  ass 
Find  out  the  treble  and  the  bass ; 
If  mares  neigh  alto,  and  a  cow 
A  double  diapason  low".''^ 

In  general,  Butler's  attitude  is  severely  satirical.  He  finds 
nothing  to  praise  in  the  new  interest.  To  him  all  scientific  learn- 
ing is  "but  a  corn  or  wart  in  the  skin  of  Judgment,  Sense,  and 
Art";^^  scientific  apparatus  consists  of  "Gimcracks,  Whims,  Jig- 
gumbobs";^''  and  the  whole  result  of  scientific  study  is  "to  crack  a 
man's  brain  in  plodding  on  to  know  that  which  is  never  to  be 
known  ".^^  Whether  his  judgment  admitted  the  truth  of  any  of  the 
new  discoveries  cannot  be  determined.  He  seems  in  real  doubt 
about  the  motion  of  the  earth,  — 

"The  motions  of  the  earth  or  sun 
(The  Lord  knows  which)  that  turn  or  run".^^ 
But  this  is  as  near  a  serious  position  as  he  ever  attained.     The  rest 
is  mockery. 

Hudibras,  as  is  well  known,  was  immensely  popular.  Even 
the  king  read  it,  laughed  over  it  and  quoted  it.  The  author  was 
praised;  preferment  seemed  at  hand;  and  then  he  was  neglected. 
Such,  it  would  appear,  was  the  general  effect  of  this  satire.  ' '  What 
effect,"  wrote  Dr.  Johnson,  "this  poem  had  upon  the  publick, 
whether  it  showed  imposture  or  reclaimed  credulity,  is  not  easily 
determined.  Cheats  can  seldom  stand  long  against  laughter.  It 
is  certain  that  the  credit  of  planetary  intelligence  wore  fast  away.  "*"* 
But  it  has  already  been  shown  that  another  force  was  at  work  des- 
troying the  pseudo-science  of  astrology,  i.  e.  the  search  for  natural 
causes.  Butler  was  keenly  aware  of  the  hypocrisy  in  this  busi- 
ness and  was  justified  in  his  presentation  of  Sidrophel  and 
Whachum.     His  mistake,  hoAvever,  was  to  let  his  personal  feeling 

*  A  Satire  Upon  the  Royal  Society,  85-104. 

39  Hudibras,  Pt.  Ill,  c.  1,  108-9. 

^  Upon   Human   Learning. 

**  A  Fragment. 

*>  Sat.   upon   Weaknesses   and   Misery   of    Man. 

"•Johnson,   Samuel,  Lives  of  the  Poets,  I,  p.   216. 


118  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

blunt  his  power  of  discrimination,  so  that  he  was  led  to  scoff  at  the 
whole  new  movement.  '  *  There  is  a  great  difference ' ',  said  Shaftes- 
bury wisely,  "between  seeking  how  to  raise  a  laugh  from  every- 
thing, and  seeking  in  everything  what  justly  may  be  laughed  at. 
For  nothing  is  ridiculous  except  what  is  deformed ;  nor  is  anything 
proof  against  raillery  except  what  is  handsome  and  just".*"  Here 
was  Butler's  defect  and  this  greatly  nullified  the  influence  of  his 
satire.  The  new  science  was  destined  to  increase;  Butler's  power 
was  sure  to  decrease. 

In  other  satiric  verse  of  this  early  period  the  new  science  finds 
only  incidental  expression.  In  Charles  II 's  Court  was  a  group  of 
scoffers  who  sharpened  their  wits  against  men  and  manners,  but 
they  were  almost  wholly  engrossed  with  politics  and  society.  The 
leader  of  this  "mob  of  gentlemen  who  wrote  with  ease"  was  John 
Wilmot,  Earl  of  Rochester.  His  attitude  is  typical.  To  him  it  is 
folly  to  leave  the  pleasures  of  society  for  useless,  or  at  most  al- 
truistic,   studies. 

"Nature's  as  lame  in  making  a  true  fop. 
As  a  philosopher ;  the  very  top, 
And  dignity  of  folly  we  attain 
By  studious  search  and  labor  of  the  brain, 
By  observation,  counsel,  and  deep  thought".*^ 
This  flippant  treatment  is  found  generally.     The  Earl  of  Dorset 
ridicules  Boyle's  study  of  light  in  this  fashion,  — 
"So  have  I  seen  in  larder  dark 
Of  Veal  a  lucid  loin; 
Replete  with  many  a  brilliant  spark, 
As  wise  philosophers  remark. 
At  once  both  stink  and  shine  ".*- 
Lord  Buekhurst,  in  his  burlesque  on  Sir  Robert  Howard's  Duel 
of  the  Stags,  describes  in  mock  heroic  style  a  fight  between  two 
crabs.     But   whether   they   fought   with   proboscis,   or   horns,   or 
tusks, — 

"Some  Greshamite  perhaps,  with  help  of  glass, 
And  poring  long  upon 't,  may  chance  to  guess. '  '*' 

*"  Characteristics,  vol.   1,  p.  85. 
*^  Artimisia  in  Town  to  Cloe  in  the  Country. 
*2  On  the  Countess  of  Dorchester,  1680. 
*'The  Duel  of  the  Crahs. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  119 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Andrew  Marvell's  pen  flowed  with 
vitriolic  wit.  He  sought  chiefly  to  correct  political  abuses,  but 
touched  again  and  again  upon  the  new  science,  and  always  to 
ridicule  it.  The  atomic  theory  is  derided  in  The  Clarendon  House- 
Warming ;*'^  the  telescopic  observations  of  the  sun  in  To  the  King; 
transfusion  of  the  blood  in  Britannia  and  Raleigh.  A  selection 
from  his  Instructions  to  a  Painter  about  the  Dutch  Wars,  1667,  will 
illustrate  his  attitude. 

''With  Hooke  then  through  your  microscope  take  aim, 

To  see  a  louse  brandish  a  white  staff. 

Paint  then  again  her  Highness  to  the  life 

Philosopher  beyond  Newcastle's  wife".*^ 
There  follow  some  absurd  experiments  by  which  to  restore  ^^r- 
ginity  after  childbirth  and  to  mature  royal  heirs  quickly. 

"Hence  Crowder  made  the  rare  inventress  free 
Of  's  Highness 's  Royal  Society." 
Many  miscellaneous  satirical  references  occur.  John  Oldham 
satirized  the  art  of  flying  in  his  Satire  on  Jesuits.*^  The  Duke  of 
Buckingham  poked  fun  at  the  new  inventions  in  The  Rump-Parlia- 
ment. Physiological  studies  were  ridiculed  in  An  Occasional  Re- 
flection on  Dr.  Charleton's  "Feeling  a  Dog's  Pulse  at  Gresham 
College".*^  The  investigation  of  mineral  springs  found  satiric 
treatment  in  Tunlridgia;  or,  The  Pleasures  of  Tunhridge.*^  Sir 
Samuel  Morland's  inventions  were  ridiculed  in  Cullen  with  his 
Flock  of  Misses  (1679).*''  New  projects,  in  the  virtuoso's  manner 
are  discovered  in  the  poem  On  the  Late  Inventions  of  the  New 
Light,^°  and  on  The  Late  Invention  of  the  Penny  Post,^'^  In  1691 
Alicia  D'Anvers  sent  a  Country  bumpkin  to  Oxford,  where  he  be- 
held with  wonder  and  amazement  the  scientific  apparatus  and  the 
rarities  of  the  virtuosi.^^ 

**St.  XV. 

«Sat.    III. 

««U.   141-7. 

"Attributed  to  Butler. 

*^  Poems  on  State  Affairs,  vol.  II,  p.  205. 

*»Ibid.  I,  p.  133. 

«>Ibid.   II,   p.   244. 

«n)id.   II,  p.   246. 

^  Academia ;   or,   The   Uumours   of   Oxford  in  Burlesque   Verse. 


120  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

Throughout  all  of  this  verse  the  attitude  is  the  same.  The 
satirists  came  to  this  new  interest  to  scoff.  They  were  never  seri- 
ous, never  sincere,  never  fair,  never  candid.  New  science  was  to 
them  another  folly,  another  evidence  of  England's  decadence,  and 
those  who  followed  it  were  fools  and  knaves,  as  much  to  be  scorned 
as  the  veriest  fop,  as  much  to  be  ridiculed  as  the  worst  quack,  as 
much  to  be  despised  as  the  religious  hypocrite,  and  as  much  to  be 
lashed  with  satiric  whips  as  the  most  dishonest  political  intriguer. 
There  is  here  no  appreciation  of  unselfish  devotion  to  truth,  no 
respect  for  men  of  high  and  noble  character,  no  belief  in  the  pos- 
sibilities of  the  new  philosophy. 

William  King  stands  between  the  wits  of  the  Restoration  and 
those  of  Queen  Anne's  reign.  Besides,  for  his  own  sake  he  de- 
serves individual  treatment.  He  was  a  writer  of  charming  clever- 
ness and  of  brilliant  wit.  His  satire  was  keen  yet  full  of  fun.  He 
wrote  apparently  with  ease  and  facility.  Politics,  society,  and 
religion  occupied  his  pen  for  the  most  part,  but  he  glances  again 
and  again  at  the  new  science.  In  Just  as  you  Please;  or,  The  In- 
curious, there  is  an  experiment  made  by  a  virtuoso  who  had  a 
mind  to  see  a  man  that  would  never  disagree  with  any  expressed 
opinion;  in  The  Stumhling  Block,  there  is  a  good-natured  satire 
on  the  old  atomic  theory  and  on  the  new  atmospheric  studies,  — 
"A  Vacuum's  another  maxim; 

"Where,  he  brags,  experience  backs  him; 

Denying  that  all  space  is  full, 

From  inside  of  a  Tory's  skull ".'^^ 

But  it  was  in  the  Transactioneer  (1700)  that  he  struck  out  most 
boldly  against  the  Royal  Society  and  its  work.  This  was  intended 
to  be  a  burlesque  on  the  Philosophical  Transactions.''*  These  head- 
ings, ''taken  at  random",  ^vill  illustrate  the  nature  of  the  sub- 
jects treated;  "Eggs  in  the  Cauda  of  a  barnacle.  Four  sorts  of 
Lady's  Bugs.  A  Buck  in  a  snake's  belly.  A  Shower  of  Whitings. 
A  Shower  of  Butter  to  dress  them  with."''^  The  sole  purpose,  it 
may  be  seen,  was  to  raise  a  laugh.  The  same  is  true  of  King 's  satiric 
verse.     Here  is  a  specimen  of  some  crude  lines  in  ironic  vein, — 

^  The  Stumbling  Block,  1.  308-11. 

"  The  Transactioneer,  with  some  of  his  philosophical  fancies,   in  two  dialogues. 

"  Quoted  in  Weld's  Ilistory  of  the  Royal  Society,  p.  352. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  121 

"The  Merchants  on  the  Exchange  doe  plott 
To  increase  the  Kingdom's  worthy  trade; 
At  Gresham  College  a  learned  Knott, 
Unparalleled  designs  have  laid, 
To  make  themselves  a  Corporation, 
And  know  all  things  by  demonstration. 

This  noble  Corporation 
Not  for  themselves  are  thus  combin'd, 
But  for  the  public  good  o'  th'  nation, 
And  general  benefit  of  Mankind. 
These  are  not  men  of  conunon  mould 
They  covet  fame,  but  condemn  gold.~ 

The  College  will  the  whole  world  measure. 

Which  most  impossible  conclude, 

And  navigation  make  a  pleasure. 

By  finding  out  the  longitude; 

Every  Tarpaulian  shall  then  with  ease 

Saile  any  ship  to  the  Antipodies. 

The  College  Gresham  shall  hereafter 

Be  the  whole  world's  university; 

Oxford  and  Cambridge  are  our  laughter; 

Their  learning  is  but  pedantry; 

These  new  collegiates  do  assure  us 

Aristotle's  an  ass  to  Epicurus".'^" 
The  awkwardness  of  these  lines  do  King  an  injustice,  but  they 
show  the  spirit  of  his  raillery.  Again  there  is  a  desire  to  raise  a 
laugh  at  whatever  expense.  There  is  no  calling  of  knaves  and 
fools,  but  he  usually  accomplishes  that  most  difficult  feat  of  making 
"a  man  appear  a  fool,  a  block-head,  or  a  knave,  without  using  any 
of  those  opproprious  terms''.^''  He  was  a  master  of  "the  nicest 
and  most  delicate  touches  in  fine  railery  of  which  satire  consists".''^ 
At  the  turn  of  the  century  there  are  found  a  number  of  satiric 
thrusts  at  the  new  science.  Samuel  Garth,  angered  at  the  quarrel 
between  the  physicians  and  apothecaries  over  dispensing  drugs 

««  See  Weld,  Ilistory  of  Royal  Society,  vol.   II,   p.   323. 

^''  Dryden,  Discourse  concerning  the  original  and  progress  of  satire. 

Mlbid. 


122  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

free  of  charge  to  the  poor,  wrote  The  Dispensary  (1699)  "to 
purge  his  mind".  The  satire  is  on  astrologers  and  physicians,  and 
generally  confines  itself  to  the  abuse  among  the  men  of  these  two 
fraternities.  Like  other  satirists,  however,  he  does  not  always  dis- 
criminate ;  Sloane  and  Bentley  are  no  better  than  Lilly  and  Charles 
Boyle.^''^  The  author  was  much  praised  on  account  of  this  poem 
because  the  general  reader  felt  he  was  a  true  champion  of  the  op- 
ressed.  John  Pomf ret  repeats  this  satire  in  iJeason  (1700).  "More 
than  once",  he  says,  "we  have  seen  that  blundering  Sloane,  miss- 
ing the  gout,  by  chance  has  hit  the  stone.  Among  the  'impious 
race'  of  physicians  there  is  a  continued  war  between  alkalis  and 
acids".  The  sting  of  his  satire  is  found  in  these  two  lines, — 
"Wliat's  all  the  noisy  jargon  of  the  schools, 

But  idle  nonsense  of  laborious  fools?" 
Blackmore,  in  his  eagerness  to  establish  orthodox  belief,  found 
himself  denouncing  all  forms  of  human  philosophy,  in  the  first 
two  books  of  The  Creation.  "There  is  no  philosophy",  he  cries, 
"without  a  God".®°  Descartes,  Gassendus,  Copernicus,  Ptolemy, 
Kepler,  Newton  pursued  their  studies  in  vain.  "Move,  which  mil 
please  you,  earth  or  sun",''^  account  for  the  mountains  by  myth  or 
for  the  tides  by  the  motion  of  the  earth  or  the  influence  of  the 
moon,®2  turn  the  world  as  you  will  and  by  what  force  you  will, 
magnetism  or  gravitation,^^  in  the  final  analysis  the  true  solution 
to  every  question  is, — "This  is  done  by  the  power  of  God".  It 
was  poetic  enthusiasm  that  carried  Blackmore  to  this  point  of 
utter  repudiation.  As  will  be  shown  later,  he  was  really  in  ac- 
cord with  the  new  ideas,  at  least  in  physiology.  And  even  here 
in  spite  of  his  opposition  he  has  caught  a  new  glimpse  of  the  im- 
mensity of  space. 

' '  Regard  the  orb  sublime,  in  ether  borne, 

Which  the  blue  regions  of  the  skies  adorn ; 

Compar'd  with  whose  extent  this  low  hung  ball. 

Shrunk  to  a  point,  is  despicably  small.  "^* 

^^  Works  of  the  Minor  Poets,  pp.  188,  205,  310. 

""Bk.   1. 

«  Ibid. 

«a  Ibid. 

«Bk.  2. 

M  Ibid. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  123 

He,  too,  must  take  a  thrust  at  Sloane,  as  seen  in  his  satiric  poem 
the  Kit-Cats  (1709).  Blackmore,  himself,  became  the  target  for 
many  a  witty  line  on  account  of  his  heavy,  monotonous  verse, 
whicli  few  ever  read.  His  attitude,  therefore,  is  not  of  much  im- 
portance. 

The  group  of  brilliant  Queen  Anne  wits  found  much  satiric 
material  in  the  new  science.  Prior,  the  eldest  of  them,  got  much 
fun  out  of  ridiculing  the  different  philosophic  theories  in  Alma; 
or,  The  Progress  of  the  Mind.  Fame,  he  says,  awaits  the  men  who 
will  reconcile  Aristotle  and  Gassendus.®^  All  systems  have  un- 
sound foundations.  If  one  questions  the  premises  of  any  philoso- 
pher's theory,  then  he  is  rendered  helpless.  Deny  to  Descartes 
his  "subtil  matter"  and  he  has  nothing  left;  refuse  to  accept  the 
elastic  force  of  matter  and  "Sir  Isaac  would  look  odd";  disprove 
the  existence  of  the  philosopher's  stone,  and  "how  could  our  chemic 
friends  go  on  ? "  Not  only  so,  but  the  whole  activity  is  misapplied, 
"Circles  to  square  and  cubes  to  double. 

Would  give  a  man  excessive  trouble; 

The  Longitude  uncertain  roams, 

In  spite  of  Whiston  and  his  bombs  ".^'^ 
The  search  after  rarities  has  no  attraction  for  him  and  men  are 
fools  to  yield  to  such  a  curiosity.®^     The  physiologists,  too,  have  gone 
to  a  foolish  excess  in  their  search  for  likenesses  in  bodily  structure 
between  brutes  and  men.^^ 

Prior's  is  a  contemptuous  attitude.  Like  Blackmore,  he  claims 
that  nature  is  too  subtle  for  man  to  understand;  the  Avisest  answer 
to  all  questions  is  to  say,  "Thus  the  Creator  has  done".  There  is 
no  reason  for  confidence  in  any  man-made  theory ;  for, — 

"Forc'd  by  reflective  reason,  I  confess. 
That  human  science  is  but  guess.  "^^ 
Swift  devotes  little  attention  in  verse  to  the  new  science.     In 
his  burlesque  Ode  to  the  Athenian  Society  occur  such  lines  as 
these, —  s 

«  Lines  244-6.  "^^ 

"Alma,  Canto  III,  366-9. 
«'IlDid.    448-83. 
«8An   Ode,    1689. 
"Alma,    739-40. 


124  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

"And  hopes  to  lengthen  life  by  a  transfusion  of  breath, 
Which  yet  who  e'er  examines  right  will  find 
To  be  an  Art  as  vain  as  bottling  up  of  wind"/° 

If  such  scientific  information  was  really  dispensed  through  the 
medium  of  The  Athenian  Mercury,  its  original  source  was  certainly 
the  Royal  Society.  The  same  is  true  of  the  references  in  these 
lines  from  an  Ode  to  Music, — 

"The  longitude  miss'd  on 

By  wicked  "Will  Whiston ; 

And  not  better  hit  on 

By  good  Master  Ditton."'^^ 

The  Broken  Mug  contains  a  scene  on  ]\It.  Parnassus  Avhere  a  dis- 
cussion has  been  carried  on  among  a  group  of  friends  as  to  whether 
"The  earth  mov'd,  or  the  sun", — 

"Who  writ  the  best  Philosophy 
Copernicus  or  Ptolomy. 
Whether  they  were  not  both  outdone, 
By  Newton's  Principles  alone." 

Swift's  satire  on  the  new  science,  in  verse,  is  good-natured.  He 
never  seemed  to  have  endeavored  seriously  to  exploit  that  humor, 
doubtless  because  he  dealt  with  it  so  fully  in  prose.  The  new  phil- 
osophy has  entered  to  such  a  small  extent  into  his  poetry  as  to  be- 
come almost  negligible,  and  no  definite  attitude  can  be  determined. 

Other  poets  took  their  fling  at  the  new  philosophy.  John  Byrom 
has  some  derisive  verses  in  A  Full  and  True  Account,  The  Bisec- 
tion of  a  Beau's  Head,''^  and  The  Astrologer.  The  first  poem,  writ- 
ten in  his  youth,  ridicules  "The  Goddess  Shorthand,  bright  celes- 
tial maid",  a  system  recently  proposed  before  the  Royal  Society; 
the  second  is,  as  the  name  suggests,  a  burlesque  on  dissection ;  the 
third  is  an  invocation  to  astrology,  "Goddess  divine.  Celestial 
Decypheress".  All  these  show  the  crudities  of  youth,  the  affec- 
tation of  a  sophomore.  They  are  of  no  value  either  as  verse  or  as 
satire. 

In  Fenton  there  is  found  once  more  that  form  of  piety  which 

7«  stanza  VIL 

"Works,  vol.  XIII,  p.  313. 

"  See   The  Spectator,  275. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  125 

considers  man  vain  and  presumptuous  who  tries  "witli   random 
guesses ' ', — 

"To  sound  Thy  searehless  providence, 
From  which  he  sprang.  "^^ 
The  best  answer  to  all  scientific  inquiries,  he  repeats,  is  that  God 
so  ordained.  Otherwise  men  will  reach  such  absurd  conclusions 
as  the  "sage  Cartesians"  hold,  who  declare  that  souls  stand  tip- 
toe on  the  pineal  gland.'*  Here  is  his  attitude  summed  up  in  four 
lines, — 

"That  knowledge,  which  from  reason  flows. 
Unless  Religion  guide  its  course. 
And  Faith  her  steady  mounds  oppose, 
Is  ignorance  at  best,  and  often  worse  ".''^ 
The  same  kind  of  piety  inspired  Isaac  Watts  and  determined 
his  attitude  toward  the  new  ideas.     Man  has  a  "silly  wandering 
mind"  that  resents  the  close  confinement  of  the  flesh,  and  unless 
curbed  will  "coast  round  the  narrow  shores  of  flesh  and  sense", — 
"Picking  shells  and  pebbles  thence. "^^    "Watts'  contempt  for  human 
learning  finds  expression  in  these  rather  vigorous  lines, — 
"Touch,  heavenly  Word,  0  touch  these  curious  souls; 
Since  I  have  heard  but  one  soft  hint  from  thee 
From  all  the  vain  opinions  of  the  schools 
(That  pageantry  of  knowing  fools) 
I  feel  my  powers  releas'd,  and  stand  divinely  free"." 
Such  casual  thrusts  may  be  passed  by  with  bare  mention,  as 
Gilbert  West's  "supercilious  pedant  train ",^^  Somerville's  "pre- 
carious science  vain",  in  which  all  creation  is  "nature's  puppet- 
show",^^  and  his  declaration  that  "the  best  elixir  is  a  friend",®" 
Richard  Duke's  classification,  "Mountebanks,  Quakers,  Chemists, 
Trading  varlets",^^  and  Parnell's  "grave  frenzy  of  the  chymic 

"^An  Ode. 

''*  The  Fair  Nun. 

"^An  Ode. 

"">  True  Riches. 

■"  True  Learning. 

'*  Education. 

'•  The  Officious  Messenger. 

•o  To  WiUiam  Colmore. 

^  The  Review. 


126  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

fool".^^  The  same  attitude,  merely  hinted  at,  is  common  to  all. 
These  men  are  scoffers,  without  faith  in  the  new  science  and  without 
any  appreciation  of  the  men  and  achievements.  These  lines  pre- 
sent the  very  essence  of  their  opinions, — 

' '  Wliat  can  these  idle  Gimcracks  mean ; 
Ye  World-]\Iakers  of  Gresham-Hall, 
Dog  Rover  shall  confute  you  all".®^ 

William  Shenstone  addressed  a  poem  of  considerable  length  To 
the    Virtuosi.      There   is   in   it   a   vein   of    contemptuous,   satiric 
raillery,  but  it  seems  to  have  been  intended  for  good-natured  bur- 
lesque.    The  important  thing  in  it  is  the  characterization  of  the 
scientist   at  this  late  period  in   the   eighteenth  century, — "those 
curious  "Wights !  to  whom  so  fair  the  form  of  mortal  flies  is ! " 
Men  of  science   "sigh   for  nature's  vermin",   "and   deem  those 
grubs  beyond  compare  which  common  sense  despises".     The  same 
contempt  appears  in  The  Progress  of  Taste,  where  Damon  has  fal- 
len into  the  grasp  of  this  scientific  humor, — 
"Till  passion,  misdirected,  sighs 
For  weeds,  or  shells,  or  grubs,  or  flies!" 
Such  an  interest,  says  Shenstone,  might  be  admired  in  boys  and 
girls  ' '  of  fifteen  years  and  more ' ',  but  in  adults  it  becomes  a  folly. 
A  far  "nobler  passion  is  to  love", — 

" 'Tis  time  more  social  joys  to  prove; 
'Twere  your  nobler  tasks  to  love".®* 
Shenstone 's  contempt  for  physicians  and  apothecaries  is  given  in 
The  Charms  of  Precedence. 

This  poet  failed  to  understand  the  scientific  passion.  It  was 
much  better  in  his  judgment  to  spend  one's  time  in  social  pleasure 
than  in  prying  into  the  secrets  of  nature,  i.  e.,  in  studying  the  forms 
and  habits  of  insects.  For  insects  to  him  were  only  "nature's  ver- 
min", and  the  man  who  wasted  his  life  in  a  contemplation  of 
them  was  as  much  to  be  despised  as  they. 

Edward  Young  wrote  some  cutting  satire  on  the  new  science  in 
The  Universal  Passion.  He  decried  that  passion  in  men  for  an- 
tiques which  leads  them  to  spend  all  their  money  for  these  use- 

«2  To  Mr.  Pope. 

8*  Somerville,  The  Officious  Messenger. 

**  The  Progress  of  Taste. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  127 

less  things  while  their  families  come  to  want.®*     The  following  lines 
show  his  attitude: 

"Nothing  exceeds  in  ridiciile,  no  doiiht, 
A  fool  in  fashion,  but  a  fool  that  's  out. 


But  what  in  oddness  can  be  more  sublime 
Than  Sloane,  the  foremost  toyman  of  his  time? 
His  nice  ambition  lies  in  curious  fancies, 
His  daughter's  portion  a  rich  shell  inhanees, 
And  Ashmole's  baby-house  is  in  his  view, 
Britannia's  golden   mine,  a  rich  Peru! 
How  his  eyes  languish !   How  his  thoughts  adore 
That  painted  coat,  which  Joseph  never  wore ! 
He  shows  on  holidays,  a  sacred  pin 

That  touch 'd  the  ruff,  that  touch 'd  Queen  Bess's  chin".®® 
"Some  nymphs",  he  laments,  "prefer  astronomy  to  love",®^  and 
make  appointments  with  Desagulier  and  Whiston  instead  of  with 
a  beau.  But  Young  has  only  scorn  for  female  philosophy. 
"Sophronia"  may  try  numberless  vain  experiments  with  air-pumps, 
may  gaze  to-night  Anth  rapture  on  the  starry  sky  through  the  tele- 
scope, but  to-morrow, — 

"(0,  fickle  sex!) 

Lo !  Pug  from  Jupiter  her  heart  has  got, 
Turns  out  the  stars,  and  Newton  is  a  sot."®® 
Here  again  is  the  attitude  of  comedy.  The  followers  of  science 
are  fools  and  knaves,  all  the  worse,  because  this  philosophy,  which 
was  new  in  the  seventeenth  century,  is  now  "gone  out  of  date". 
Antiquarianism,  astronomy,  and  physics  are  follies  or  worse,  and 
need  the  lashing  of  satiric  verse. 

"Satire!  had  I  thy  Dorset's  force  devine, 
A  knave  or  fool  should  perish  in  each  line; 
Tho'  for  the  first  all  Westminster  should  plead. 
And  for  the  last,  all  Gresham  intercede. "®® 

^Satire   I. 

^Satire  IV. 

«' Satire  V. 

w  Ibid. 

*•  Universal  Passion,  Satire  I. 


128  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

How  the  poet's  attitude  was  changed  in  later  years  will  be  shown 
hereafter,  but  as  revealed  at  this  early  period  it  is  cruelly  severe. 
Mark  Akenside  wrote  a  poem  in  Spencerian  stanzas  on  the  char- 
acter of  the  scientist  in  The  Virtuoso.  It  is  satiric  in  tone,  but 
good-naturedly  so.  He  regards  the  scientific  interest  as  a  "phan- 
tasy" whose  power  fills  the  mind  to  the  exclusion  of  judgment. 
A  man  so  possessed  looks  at  the  world  "with  vitiated  sight",  so 
that  he  neglects  his  family  and  forgets  his  friends  in  the  mad  pur- 
suit of  "painted  trifles  and  fantastic  toys."  Here  the  virtuoso 
stands  in  clear  outline, — 

" Book-learn 'd  and  quaint:  a  virtuoso  hight. 

He  many  a  creature  did  anatomize, 

Almost  unpeopling  water,  air,  and  land; 

Beasts,  fishes,  birds,  snails,  caterpillars,  flies, 

Were  laid  full  low  by  his  relentless  hand, 

That  oft  with  gory  crimson  was  distained; 

He  many  a  dog  destroyed,  and  many  a  cat ; 

Of  fleas  his  bed,  of  frogs  the  marshes  drained, 

Could  tellen  if  a  mite  were  lean  or  fat, 

And  read  a  lecture  o'er  the  entrails  of  a  gnat. "^° 
The  knowledge  to  which  this  virtuoso  lays  claim  is  practically  un- 
bounded— except  by  usefulness.  That  realm  he  never  entered. 
He  is  learned  in  the  various  manners  of  ancient  times,  and  in  rari- 
ties,— "How  the  Greek  tunic  differs  from  the  Roman  gown";  he 
is  a  curious  medallist;  he  has  a  rich  museum,  containing  air- 
pumps,  prisms,  a  Memphian  mummy-king,  phials  of  live  insects, 
a  tripod  of  the  Pythian  Maid,  a  crocodile,  and  a  table  full  of  rari- 
ties such  as  a  Bahaman  spider's  carcass,  "a  dire  serpent's  golden 
skii?.",  and  some  Indian  feathers. 

There  is  here  no  seriousness,  no  bitterness ;  the  poet  declares, 
simply,  that  the  man  is  foolish  who  will  devote  himself  to  a  pur- 
suit of  such  knowledge,  and  yet  he  may  be  happy  in  his  folly.  As 
for  the  poet,  he  looks  on  with  good-natured  ridicule,  exploits  the 
absurdity  of  the  "odd  humor",  and  turns  away  to  write  a  love  lyric 
to  Chloe. 

In  the  poetry  of  Pope,  that  satiric  epitome  of  the  age,  is  found 
an  extended  treatment  of  the  new  science.     It  is  so  closely  inter- 

wibid.   stanza  II. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  129 

woven,  however,  with  other  matter  that  it  is  a  difficult  task  to  ex- 
tract it.  The  poet's  position  may  be  made  clear  by  a  general  ex- 
position with  references  interspersed  and  with  occasional  quota- 
tions where  the  passages  are  illuminating.  His  mockery  of  astrol- 
ogy is  found  in  the  last  canto  of  the  Bape  of  the  Lockf^  his  scorn 
of  the  antiquarian  humor  is  disclosed  in  the  opening  lines  of 
Epistle  IV  of  the  Moral  Essays.  His  own  claim  upon  "Reason 
free  and  unposs  't ' '  he  states  thus  boldly  in  the  Imitations  of  Horace, 
Bk.  I,  Ep.  I,— 

"But  ask  not,  to  what  Doctors  I  apply? 

Sworn  to  no  master,  of  no  sect  am  I ; 

As  drives  the  Storm,  at  any  door  I  knock ; 

And  house  with  Montague  now,  or  now  with  Locke.  "^^ 

But  for  a  fuller  expression  of  his  attitude  one  must  turn  to  the 
Essay  on  Man  and  the  Dunciad.  In  the  former,  however  much 
Pope  may  have  borrowed  from  Bolingbroke  in  philosophic  ideas, 
the  manner  of  treatment  and  the  bias  of  mind  are  the  poet's  own. 
These  may  be  examined  with  no  cencern  for  influences.  His  at- 
titude is  found  to  be  largely  the  ultra-pious  position  taken  by 
Prior  and  Watts;  namely,  that  man  is  presumptuous  to  try  to 
understand  the  laws  of  nature,  his  proper  attitude  is  rather  one 
of  acceptance  and  reverence. 
"  Go ! ! "  cries  Pope  scornfully, 

"Wonderous  creature!  mount  where  science  guides, 

Go,  measure  earth,  weigh  air  and  state  the  tides. 

Instruct  the  planets  in  what  orbs  to  run. 

Correct  old  Time,  and  regulate  the  sun".^-^ 
Let  those  proud  men  teach  eternal  wisdom,  and  when  that  is  done, 
"drop  into  themselves,  and  be  a  fool".^*  Bacon,  the  archscientist, 
is  to  him  "the  wisest,  brightest,  meanest  of  men;"^^  and  here  for 
the  first  and  last  time  Newton  is  attacked, — "a  mortal  man  who 
dared  unfold  all  nature's  law".  So  high  has  he  risen  in  the  ad- 
miration of  his  disciples  that  they  show  "a  Newton  as  we  show  an 

"Canto  V,  II.  127-I-. 
»2  11.  23-6. 
w£p.  //,  19-22. 
»*n)id.  29-30. 
»»n)id.  IV,   282. 


130  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

Ape".  But  if  one  will  really  know  the  truth,^^  he  must  first  take 
modesty  as  his  guide,  must  strip  off  the  "equipage  of  Pride", 
"Learning's  Luxury",  and  "Idleness",  "tricks  to  show  the  stretch 
of  human  brain",  then  will  he  see  revealed  how  little  is  the  sum  of 
actual  knowledge  possessed  by  man.^^  Behind  and  beyond  every 
human  theory  lies  an  unanswerable  question;  that  is  God.  Man's 
duty,  therefore,  is  to  trace  the  beneficent  design  of  his  creator  in 
the  world  about  him  and  cease  to  crack  his  brain  over  natural 
causes.  The  attraction  of  atoms,  the  movement  of  the  spheres, 
the  orders  of  living  creatures,  the  harmony  in  the  universe  are 
matters  for  praise,  not  investigation.  Therefore,  the  Indian  is  a 
happier  man  than  the  scientist,  for 

"His  soul,  proud  Science  never  taught  to  stray 
Far  as  the  solar  walk,  or  milky  way".^^ 
More  pointed  satire  is  found  in  the  Dunciad,  especially  in  Bk. 
IV,  the  diatribe  on  education.     Here  "Science  groans  in  chains", 
but  mad  Mathesis  (mathematics)  runs  free  and  lifts  her  ecstatic 
stare  to  pure  space,  and 

"Now  running  round  the  circle,  finds  its  square".^® 
The  Cartesians  with  their  "Mechanic  Cause"  nobly  take  a  "Priori 
Road",  and  build  up  nature  as  they  will.^""  Antiquarians,  botan- 
ists, zoologists  come  bearing  as  their  tributes,  "a  nest,  a  Toad,  a 
Fungus,  or  a  Flower  ".^°^  One  virtuoso  seeks  preferment  from  the 
queen  of  Dullness  because  he  has  madly  pursued  and  ruthlessly 
slain  a  lovely  butterfly, — 

"Whose  spoil  this  paper  offers  to  your  eye. 
Fair  ev'n  in  death!  this  peerless  Butterfly. "^''^ 
So,  Pope  declares,  there  is  a  bias  to  every  mind ;  some  dullards  are 
aroused  by  a  humming-bird,  some  find  pleasure  in  dissecting  "a 
member  of  the  cockle-kind",  some  "may  wander  in  a  wilderness 
of  moss",  some  run  mad  after  comets,  some 

»«1.   34. 

•^U.  43-52. 

»8  Epistle   I,    101-2. 

•SI.  21. 

»o«l.  31. 

i«ll.  465-71. 

102  1.   380. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  131 

"Impale  a  glow-worm,  or  Vertii  profess, 
Shine  in  dignity  of  F.  R.  S."^"' 

All  unite  in  obeying  their  Queen's  last  command, — "be  proud,  be 
selfish,  and  be  dull".^''^ 

In  his  attack  there  is  no  mercy  in  Pope's  heart.  Pseudo-sci- 
ence and  true  science  fall  alike  to  the  part  of  fools.  The  antag- 
onism he  feels  is  really  innate;  it  is  the  artist's  nature  meeting  with 
the  cold  intellectualism  of  science;  it  is  a  poet  finding  facts  un- 
warmed  by  imaginative  fervor.  Hence,  there  is  neither  sympathy 
for  nor  appreciation  of ^"*^  the  new  ideas ;  hence,  is  the  bitter  irony 
of  these  lines  that  are  the  acme  of  Pope's  satire  against  the  whole 
scientific  attitude, — 

"0,  would  the  Sons  of  Men  once  think  their  eyes 
And  reason  giv'n  them  but  to  study  Flies! 
See  nature  in  some  partial  narrow  shape 
And  let  the  author  of  the  whole  escape ; 
Leafn  but  to  trifle ;  or,  who  most  observe, 
To  wonder  at  their  Maker,  not  to  serve  ".^°^ 

It  was  thus  that  the  new  science  was  represented  in  the  satire 
of  the  period.  In  a  large  measure  there  was  an  exploitation 
of  the  new  interest  as  a  humor,  just  as  the  comedies  of  the  times 
treated  it.  In  such  a  process  no  discrimination  between  pretense 
and  true  worth  can  be  found,  or  is  to  be  expected.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  writing  satire  became  for  these  poets  as  great  a  humor  as  • 
they  were  ever  able  to  find  in  the  "follies  and  foibles"  of  other 
men.  This  peculiar  quality  or  bias  of  mind  so  possessed  them  that 
it  drew  their  atfects,  spirits  and  powers  "in  their  confluction,  all 
to  run  one  way".  By  Ben  Jonson's  o-rti  definition,  therefore,  these 
writers  were  dominated  by  a  satiric  humor,  which  sought  to  render 
absurd  the  interests  of  all  men,  which  lived  and  moved  and  had  its 
being  in  laughter  not  always  pleasant.  It  was  born  in  Butler  and 
perished  with  Pope. 

A  peculiar  phase  of  this  satiric  attitude  appeared  in  those  rather 

i"*!!.  435-6. 

K*!.   584. 

1""  See  infra,  for  Pope's  use  of  facts. 

i<^  The  Dunciad,  IV,  I.  454-9. 


132  THE    NEW   SCIENCE   AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

extreme  pietists,  such  as  Prior,  Blackmore,  and  Watts,  who  pro- 
fessed to  feel  that  it  was  an  act  of  sacrilege  to  investigate  the 
laws  of  nature,  because  this  was  aspiring  to  divine  wisdom.  To 
seek  for  natural  causes  of  natural  phenomena,  said  they,  is  to  dis- 
place God  by  a  mechanical  contrivance.  A  far  simpler  and  more 
dogmatic  way  to  solve  the  vexing  questions  respecting  the  world 
of  nature  is  to  answer  briefly  and  emphatically,  as  Blackmore  did, — 
"this  is  done  by  the  power  of  God". 

There  was  a  widespread  feeling  of  contempt  among  the  satirists 
for  those  virtuosi  who  had  a  passion  for  studying  "natures  ver- 
min" and  for  collecting  rarities.  Thus,  Hans  Sloane,  Secretary  of 
the  Royal  Society  and  Keeper  of  the  Ashmolean  "baby-house", 
became  "the  great  toyman  of  his  time".  A  delight  in  "glittering 
trifles"  was  fit  for  children,  as  Shenstone  expressed  it,  but  a  more 
worthy  occupation  for  men  was  social  intercourse. 

Sometimes,  though  not  frequently,  the  scientists  themselves 
were  satirized.  Sir  Paul  Neal,  Hooke,  Leeuwenhoek,  Evelyn, 
Sloane,  and  even  the  great  Newton  himself  received  satiric  thrusts. 
There  was  in  the  case  of  Butler's  attack  on  Sir  Paul  Neal,  and  in 
Garth's  satiric  criticism  of  Sloane,  a  motive  of  personal  feeling. 
In  general,  however,  the  characters  of  the  scientists  were  respected. 

After  a  study  of  the  unfair,  unjustified,  and  indiscriminate 
attacks  upon  the  new  philosophy,  one  reads  with  a  feeling  of  con- 
siderable irritation  the  words  of  Shaftesbury; — "The  satirists 
seldom  fail  in  doing  justice  to  virtue  ".^°^  Even  granting  sincerity 
of  purpose  to  the  writers — a  virtue  which  must  be  denied  them — 
the  best  word  for  them  is  that  they  did  not  yet  understand  the  new 
movement.  Nor  can  one  accept  without  reluctance  Shaftesbury's 
fundamental  maxim  in  defense  of  satire, — that  "ridicule  is  a  test 
of  truth".  But,  if  it  be  so,  then  was  the  new  science  solidly  based 
upon  a  true  foundation,  for  through  all  the  assaults  of  satire  and 
abuse  the  men  of  science  went  patiently  forward  conquering  and  to 
conquer. 

It  is  a  relief  to  quit  the  brilliance  of  satire  for  a  homelier  and 
kindlier  verse.  "If  inexhaustible  mt  could  give  perpetual  pleas- 
ure", w^rote  Dr.  Johnson,  "no  eye  would  ever  leave  half -read  the 
work  of  Butler.     But   astonishment  is   a  toilsome   pleasure;   he 

^"^  Characteristics,  vol.  I,  p.  93. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  133 

(the  reader)  is  soon  weary  of  wondering,  and  longs  to  be  di- 
verted ".^^^  This  is  precisely  the  feeling  with  which  one  turns  to 
trace  the  growth  of  appreciation  which  the  new  science  found 
among  the  poets.  It  will  here  be  shown  that  concomitant  with 
satire  there  developed  another  attitude  towards  the  new  philoso- 
phers and  their  work.  The  newly  discovered  ideas  gradually  found 
literary  expression.  First  came  the  sublime  scenes  revealed  by  the 
telescope,  then  the  curious  mechanism  of  the  human  body,  then  a 
new  insight  into  external  nature  through  the  scientist's  interest 
and  power  to  observe. 

Astronomy  soon  joined  itself  to  a  religious  contemplation.  In 
a  new  way  the  heavens  began  to  declare  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
firmament  to  show  his  handiwork.  Prior,  for  all  his  strictures 
on  scientific  presumption,  found  himself  inspired  by  a  study  of  the 
sky.  The  sun  still  ran  round  the  earth  for  him"*'  and  the  power 
of  astrology  was  still  strong,^"  but  the  course  of  the  stars,  "the 
myriads  of  moons  and  earths  sown  through  that  space,  which  we 
call  air  and  sky ' ',  revealed  by  the  telescope  and  calculated  by  math- 
ematics, demanded  his  utmost  admiration.  He  could  not,  indeed, 
"Make  arithmetic  and  epic  meet 
And  Newton's  thoughts  in  Dryden's  style  repeat, "^^^ 
nor  could  he  forget  that  the  human  mind  has  its  limits,  that  every 
man  must  reach  the  point  where  "Faith,  for  Reasons  glimmering, 
shall  give  her  immortal  perspective.""^  But  Prior  illustrates  the 
first  step  toward  real  poetic  appreciation.  Astronomy  thus  led 
the  way  through  piety ;  the  other  sciences  followed  slowly. 

Blackmore,  after  denouncing  all  physical  systems  of  the  uni- 
verse for  the  single  assertion,  "This  is  done  by  the  power  of  God", 
turned  to  the  new  physiology  with  the  enthusiasm  of  a  discoverer. 
Book  VI  of  The  Creation  traces  with  minuteness  the  course  of  the 
blood  as  shown  by  the  microscope,"*  and  praises  Harvey  highly 
for  his  scientific  work."^     The  physician  in  Blackmore  grows  more 

1"  Johnson's  Lives,  vol.  I,  p.  212,  Butler. 

««/  am  that  I  afn,  38-41. 

"1  Presented  to  the  King,  1-3. 

^A  Letter,   1704,  1.  77. 

"3/  Am  that  I  Am,  11.   100-1. 

"*p.    372. 

""p.  373. 


134  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

and  more  as  the  poem  progresses  and  the  poet  less  and  less.  "When 
the  circulation  of  the  blood  is  completed,  he  takes  up  the  process 
of  digestion  and  proposes  to  ''pursue  this  theme  as  far  as  the 
learned  observers  know".^^®  "What  Blackmore  understood  of  the 
new  science  he  appreciated.  To  this  he  gave  such  poetic  expres- 
sion as  lie  could.  The  spirit  of  the  man  was  appreciatively  willing, 
but  he  was  poetically  weak. 

Pomfret,  in  Reason  and  The  Divine  Attributes,  grows  enthus- 
iastic over  the  extended  bounds  of  the  sky.  In  the  former  poem 
there  is  a  vigorous  expression  of  an  idea  fundamental  to  the  new 
scientific  attitude : 

''Does  not  that  foolish  deference  we  pay 
To  men  that  liv'd  long  since,  our  passage  stay. 
What  odd,  preposterous  paths  at  first  we  tread, 
And  learn  to  walk  by  stumbling  on  the  dead ! ' '"'' 

In  the  religious  lyrics  of  Isaac  "Watts  there  is  generally  the 
astronomy  of  the  Old  Testament  scriptures.  The  Creator  is  repre- 
sented as  sitting  on  "an  awful  throne",  "whirling  the  planets 
round  the  poles ".^^^  The  "tuneful  spheres  roll  through  the 
heavens";  the  sun  moves  round  the  earth.  And  yet,  even  here, 
there  is  the  new  spirit,  the  new  conception  of  space: — "earth's  but 
an  atom".  In  Free  Philosophy,  especially,  there  is  the  new  spirit 
of  inquiry.  "I  hate  these  shackles  of  the  mind",  he  declares, 
"Thoughts  should  be  as  free  as  fire  and  wind".  Clearly,  then, 
not  even  this  pious  man  could  escape  some  tincture  of  the  new 
philosophy. 

The  Ecstasy,  by  John  Hughes,  is  after  the  same  manner.  It  is 
a  poem  filled  with  unbounded  enthusiasm  for  the  Newtonian  dis- 
coveries. The  poet  sends  his  spirit  through  vast  space,  beholds 
the  system  of  the  world  as  Newton  described  it,  draws  near  enough 
to  the  moon  to  identify  her  lakes,  mountains,  and  groves,  looks 
back  to  discover  the  earth  itself  turned  to  a  moon,  "her  seas  shad- 
owy spots,  her  land  a  milky  white".  He  inspects  Jove's  four 
moons,  Saturn's  rings, — 

"And  other  suns,  that  rule  by  other  laws, 
Hither  their  bordering  realms  extend". 

"«p.  373. 
"■^  Reason. 
"8  Jo  Mr.  C.  and  S.  Fleetwood. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  135 

He  sees  unafraid  a  meteor,  the  "great  Columbus  of  the  skies", — 
' '  'Tis  Newton 's  soul  that  daily  travels  here 
In  search  of  knowledge  for  Mankind  below.  ""^ 
The  spirit  of  Newton  is  invoked  to  teach  tlio  poet  the  way  of  each 
wandering    comet,    and    to    explain    scientifically    the    rainbow. 
Hughes,  as  far  as  he  was  able,  transformed  into  poetry  the  new 
knowledge  of  astronomy.     In  his  mind  there  was  no  fear  of  im- 
piety; all  was  admiration  and  wonder  and  delight.     He  could  not 
know  too  much. 

A  topical  poem  of  very  little  value,  by  Thomas  Yalden,  ad- 
dressed to  a  Mr.  Watson,  "on  his  Ephemeris  of  Celestial  Motions, 
presented  to  her  Majesty",  shows  how  fully  the  gravitation  theory 
was  accepted.  This  mechanical  device  was  used  to  illustrate  the 
position  and  motion  of  the  planets.  From  Yalden 's  description 
it  can  be  seen  to  follow  Newton's  new  system  of  the  universe.  But 
of  more  importance  is  a  poem  by  him,  entitled  The  Insect.  This 
is  one  of  the  very  earliest  attempts  to  use  for  poetic  material  the 
world  of  minutiae.  "  'Tis  nature's  smallest  products  please  the 
eye",  wrote  the  poet.  Monsters  are  formed  to  cause  terror,  but 
insects  to  delight.  In  these  latter  nature  works  with  exquisite 
fineness  and  perfects  every  part  no  matter  how  small.^-°  There  is 
a  touch  of  originality  in  the  poem  that  startles  the  reader  to  at- 
tention. 

As  a  mark  of  precocity  stands  the  poem  of  Richard  Glover, 
prefixed  to  Pemberton's  edition  of  Newton's  works.  The  youth- 
ful poet  discourses  at  weary  length  on  the  discoveries  of  the  great 
scientist.  Gravitation,  the  analysis  of  colors,  and  the  theory  of 
sound  transmission  are  treated  with  fulsome  praise.  Only  one 
thing  that  piques  the  poet's  curiosity  has  Newton  left  unsolved; — 
"What",  he  asks,  "is  that  subtle  spirit  which  causes  a  deflection  of 
the  rays  of  light  from  their  straight  course  to  give  color  to  the 
rainbow  in  the  sky,  the  grass  in  the  meadow,  the  flowers  of  the 
fields?" 

The  remaining  poets  fall  logically  into  two  general  groups ;  ( 1 ) 
those  who  found  fresh  material  in  the  open  fields,  as  John  Philips, 
Thomson,  Dyer,  and  Somerville,  and  (2)  those  who  found  a  new, 

"»  The  Ecstasy. 

^^  Poem  on   Sir  Isaac  Newton. 


136  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

half-mystical  inspiration  in  the  heavens  above,  as  Savage,  Brooke, 
Young,  and  Akenside.  The  poems  from  the  first  group  are  filled 
with  the  hitherto  unappreciated  commonplace  things  of  country 
life;  the  poems  from  the  second  group  are  more  formal  and  more 
religious.  The  purpose  here  is  to  show  that  scientific  curiosity 
permeates  the  work  of  both  groups,  that  both  employ  the  material 
out  of  which  was  to  be  contructed  the  new  natural  history  of  the 
world. 

John  Philips,  in  Cider,  wrote  out  of  an  interested  and  long- 
continued  observation.  The  orchard  was  to  him  a  laboratory  where- 
in he  made  experiments  in  grafting,  pruning,  fertilizing.  He  had 
examined  with  curiosity  through  the  microscope  the  embryonic 
tree  in  the  kernel  ;^-^  he  had  seen  the  mites  that  prey  on  trees 
and  fruit;  he  had  noted  the  times  and  seasons  with  an  inductive, 
commonsense  judgment. ^-^  In  spirit  and  method  he  was  in  accord 
with  the  new  philosophers. 

Thomson,  likewise,  was  possessed  of  the  new  spirit.     He  roamed 
the  fields  "with  philosophic  eye  and  inspect  sage".     The  meteor 
that  sped  across  the  sky  did  not  frighten  him  as  it  did  the  "super- 
stitious  multitude".     He   surveyed  it   curiously,    "inquisitive   to 
know  the  causes ".^-^     The  changes  of  the  seasons  he  endeavored 
to  interpret  in  terms  of  chemistry.^-*     He  was  familiar  with  the 
recent  scientific  activities."^     Boyle  and  Newton  were  mentioned 
by  him  with  special  praise.^^®     He  felt  himself,  in  general,  to  be  in 
perfect  sympathy  with  the  new  science. 
"Fair  thy  renown 
In  awful  sages  and  in  noble  bards; 
Soon  as  the  light  of  dawning  science  spread 
Her  orient  ray,  and  waked  the  Muse's  song". 
Thomson,  more  nearly  than  any  other  of  these  poets,  has  followed 
the  exhortation  of  Thomas  Sprat,  "to  read  in  the  great  Book  of 
Nature,  to  w^alk  in  its  Garden  and  taste  its  plenty".    If  the  new 

"iBk.    I. 

"2  Bk.  II.  Autwnn,  p.   141,  Crowell. 

^^ Autmiin,  p.  105,  Crowell,  "Whate'er  the  wintry  frost  nitrous  prepared  and  sum- 
mer suns  concocted  strong". 

^^  fittmmer,  p.  97,  To  memory  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton,   also  p.   406. 
^^  Autumn,  p.   146. 
^Spring,  p.  15. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  137 

science  did  not  furbish  him  fully  the  promised  reward  of  fresh 
imagery,  it  did  aid  him  with  a  new  interest.  The  facts  of  nature 
were  not  to  him  cold  and  lifeless,  but  warm  and  living.  In  the 
Seasons  imagination  and  reason  meet  on  terms  of  amity,  and  merely 
await  the  greater  genius  of  Wordsworth  to  wed  them. 

In  John  Dyer's  The  Fleece  there  is  the  same  spirit  of  interested 
observation.  The  subject-matter  is  humble  and  homely  but  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  poet  is  ever  present.  He  wrote  like  an  expert 
shepherd.  He  seemed  to  know  the  causes  of  disease  and  their 
cures  ;^-''  he  had  patiently  observed  the  habits  of  the  flock  ;^-^  he 
knew  the  shearing  time,  the  lambing  time,  the  care  of  the  fleece,  and 
its  later  process  of  manufacture.  With  all  of  his  discursiveness 
and  preaching,  like  Thomson,  his  method  of  gathering  information 
was  that  of  the  new  science, — observation  and  experiment. 

One  would  not  expect  to  find  any  new  science  or  old  science  in 
Somerville's  The  Chase,  and  yet  the  scientific  attitude  is  there. 
This  lover  of  dogs  has  made  a  careful  study  of  them,  so  that  he 
too  can  speak  as  an  expert  in  his  field.  He  has  given  an  explana- 
tion of  how  a  hound  follows  the  scent  of  a  deer,  which  might  in 
substance  have  appeared  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions, — 
"The  blood  from  the  heart  incessant  rolls 

In  many  a  crimson  tide,  then  here  and  there 

In  smaller  rills  disparted,  as  its  flow 

Propelled,  the  serous  particles  wade 

Through  th'  open  pores,  and  with  the  ambient  air 

Entangling  mix.  "^^^ 
This  effluvium,  escaping  through  the  pores  of  the  skin,  clings  to  the 
grass,  shrubs,  and  bushes,  unless  destroyed  by  rain  or  heat.     The 
nostrils  of  the  hound  in  pursuit  sucks  in  this  effluvium  and  dis- 
covers the  scent. 

The  poet  had  seen  the  weather  signs,  he  knew  the  care  of  the 
horse,  the  symptoms  and  the  treatment  of  hydrophobia.  The  hab- 
its of  the  deer,  the  hound,  the  hare,  and  the  wily  fox,  this  poet 
of  the  open  fields  also  knew.  His  lines  are  filled  with  the  fresh- 
ness and  vigor  of  the  outdoor  life ;  he  Avrote  out  of  the  enthusiasm 

"TBk.    I. 
128  Bk.    II. 
«9  Canto   I. 


138  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

of  a  first-hand,  intimate  knowledge.  Through  all  of  his  verse 
there  is  evidence  of  careful,  interested  observation  and  of  varied 
experience.  Somerville  had  the  intellectual  attitude  of  the  scien- 
tist combined  with  the  feeling  of  a  poet. 

Into  this  school  of  Thomsonian  poetry  has  entered  the  new  scien- 
tific spirit.  It  is  not  claimed  that  these  poets  were  primarily  in- 
spired by  the  new  science,  but  clearly  enough  their  habits  of  mind 
were  in  accord  with  it.  Their  eyes  were  opened  to  see  the  won- 
drous things  in  commonplace  life.  Interest  in  bugs  and  mites  was 
not  to  be  despised  by  them ;  in  the  sheep-fold,  in  the  kennel,  in  the 
orchard,  there  was  the  subject-matter  of  philosophy  and  poetry. 
In  them  was  science  becoming  the  handmaiden  of  literature. 

With  Richard  Savage's  The  Wanderer  (1729)  began  that  strain 
of  oriental  mysticism  inspired  by  the  night  and  the  stars.  The 
rapt  poet  wanders  alone  in  the  dark  and  with  feelings  of  ecstasy, 
' '  Sees,  round  new  countless  suns,  new  systems  roll ; 
Sees  God  in  all!  and  magnifies  the  whole  !""° 
He  is  enraptured  by  the  wonderful  northern  lights,  the  fleeting 
comets  where  "half-circling  glories  shoot  in  rays  of  gold".  To 
"Fancy's  eye"  these  are  the  "sanguine  ensigns"  of  encountering 
armies  in  the  sky ;  to  "  the  weak  vulgar ' '  these  are  the  portents  of 
dreadful  visitants;  but  to  the  poet,  under  the  influence  of  the  new 
science,  there  is  awe  inspired  of  beauty.  Fear  has  been  cast  out 
.by  knowledge. 

' '  The  learned-one,  curious,  eyes  it  from  afar. 
Sparkling  through  night,  a  new  illustrious  star !  "^^^ 
To  him  the  colors  of  the  rainbow  are  no  longer  an  accepted  mys- 
tery but  a  phenomenon  explained  by  science,  yet  none  the  less 
marvelously  beautiful.^^-  The  great  philosophers  are  not  to  him 
fools  and  knaves  but  men  of  transcendent  genius;  Bacon,  Locke, 
Halley,  and  Newton  are  highly  praised.  This  science,  "from 
Liberty  sprung",  after  years  of  misrepresentation,  is  at  last  com- 
ing into  its  own, — 

"See  Learning  range  yon  broad  aetherial  plain. 
From  world  to  world,  and  God-like  Science  gain! 

»»  Canto    I. 
1"  Canto  III. 
i»  Canto   VL 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  139 

Ah!  Avliat  avails  the  curious  search  sustain 'd, 
The  finish 'd  toil  the  God-like  Science  gain'd? 
Sentenc'd  to  flames  th'  expansive  wisdom  fell, 
And  truth  from  Heaven  was  sorcery  from  Hell. '  '^^^ 
The  Wanderer  looks  out  on  the  world  with  the  curious,  in- 
quisitive eyes  of  the  new  philosophers.     The  poet  parts  company 
Avitli  the  scientist  only  where  an  enthusiasm  for  beauty  divides 
itself  from  pleasure  in  the  mere  knowledge  of  truth.     "The  more 
she    (Science)",  said  Lowell  shrewdly,   "makes  one  lobe  of  the 
brain  Aristotelian,  so  much  more  will  the  other  intrigue  for  an 
invitation  to  the  banquet  of  Plato  ".^■''*     And  so  The   Wanderer, 
entering  into  the  knowledge  which  science  drew  from  the  skies, 
gave  to  it  the  "impassioned  expression"  of  poetry;  for  "poetry 
is  the  breath  and  finer  spirit  of  all  knowledge  ".^^^     Thus  stands 
the  poet-philosopher 

"Calm,  on  the  beach,  while  maddening  billows  rave; 
He  gains  philosophy  from  every  wave; 
Science  from  every  object  round  he  draws; 
From  various  Nature,  and  from  Nature's  laws".^^® 
This  philosophic  pleasure  in  the  beauty  of  the  world  is  re- 
peated in  Henry  Brooke's  poem.  Universal  Beauty   (1735).     The 
ambitious  poet  seeks  with  "a  daring  unexampl'd"  to  "unfold  the 
universal  frame".     The  Newtonian  system  finds  here  once  more 
an  enthusiastic  endorsement  ;^^^  the  earth  has  diminished  to  an  atom 
in  the  universe  of  worlds  ;^^^  the  elasticity  of  the  air,^^^  the  revela- 
tions of  the  microscope — "nature's  myriad  minim  race" — with  their 
exquisite  workmanship,^**^  the  marvelous  construction  of  the  human 
frame^*^  are  made  a  part  of  the  universal  beauty.     Swept  on  by 
the  ardor  of  his  poetic  inspiration,  Brooke  prophesies  new  wonders 
and  new  beauties  yet  to  be  revealed. 

^^  An  Epistle  to  Robert  Walpole. 

^**  Latest  Literary  Essays,   p.    182. 

*"  Wordsworth,  Preface  to  the  Lyrical  Ballads,  1815. 

i»8  To  John   Powell,  Esq. 

^Bk.  III. 

i»8Bk.   IV,   213. 

«»Bk.  II,   334. 

i«>Bk.   IV,    115. 

i"Bk.   IV,    1-14. 


140  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

"Think,  should  this  curtain  of  Omniscience  rise, 

Think  of  the  sight !  and  think  of  the  surprise ! 

Scenes  inconceivable,  essential,  new, 

Whelm 'd  on  our  soul,  and  lightning  on  our  view"."^ 
The  poetic  inspiration  of  astronomy  found  its  fullest  expres- 
sion in  Edward  Young's  Night  TJioughts.  The  poet  had  left  far 
behind  him  the  satiric  contempt  of  the  Universal  Passion,  al- 
though even  yet  man  is  not  a  noble  being.  In  the  sustained  and 
lofty  eloquence  of  this  poem,  his  fellow-beings  forgotten,  Young 
finds  the  new  heavens  of  science  a  source  of  genuine  poetic  fervor. 
The  firmament  is  for  him  "the  garden  of  the  Diety","^  the 
study  of  which  demands  a  religious  spirit. 

'  *  Devotion !  daughter  of  astronomy ! 
An  un devout  astronomer  is  mad"."* 
Young's  primary  purpose  is  to  overthrow  scepticism  and  this 
effort  occupies  the  greater  proportion  of  his  work,  but  at  times 
the  poet  overpowers  the  discursive  theologian  and  looks  with  naked 
eyes  upon  "an  infinite  of  floating  worlds  on  yonder  azure  field", 
and  with  the  microscope  of  imagination  beholds  "these  twinkling 
multitudes  of  little  life".  It  is  in  these  passages  that  Young  meets 
the  new  science  and  accepts  from  those  whom  he  before  had  scorned 
the  gratuitous  riches  of  new  ideas.  Consciously  or  unconsciously, 
also,  he  accepts  their  point  of  view, — 

' '  IMankind  was  sent  into  the  world  to  see ; 

Sight  gives  the  science  needful  to  their  peace  ".^*^ 
Once  again  has  piety  led  a  poet  into  an  appreciation  of  science. 
The  horizon,  inconceivably  enlarged  by  the  telescope,  has  revealed 
not  a  god-less  universe,  as  feared  at  first,  but  new  beauty,  new 
reason  for  belief  in  a  Creator,  new  cause  to  "fall  prostrate  and 
adore".  "Through  the  roof  of  the  little  theatre  on  which  the 
drama  of  man's  history  had  been  enacted,  men  began  to  see  the 
eternal  stars  shining  in  silent  contempt  upon  their  petty  imagin- 
ings"."^ This  inspiring  idea  dawns  upon  Young's  midnight  mus- 
ings.    He  says  of  our  earth, — 

i«  Bk.   V,    153-6. 

>"Bk.   IX. 

i«Bk.   IX.  ^ 

i«Bk.  IX. 

"°  Stephens,  Leslie,  History  of  English  Thought  in  the  18th  Cent.  I,  82. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETIIY  141 

"This  small  nest, 
Stuck  in  a  corner  of  the  universe, 
Wrapt  up  in  fleecy  cloud,  and  fine-spun  air." 
And  of  proud  man  he  demands, — 
"What  are  thou?     A  beam, 
A  mere  effluvium  of  his  majesty; 
And  sliall  an  atom  of  this  atom-world 
Mutter  in  dust  and  sin,  the  theme  of  heaven  ?"^*^ 
Young,  sordidly  ambitious  and  in  many  respects  meanly  selfish  as 
a  man,  thus  became  the  mouth-piece  of  new  scientific  ideas,  and  he, 
who  had  come  early  in  life  to  scoff  at  all  science,  remained  to  pray 
in  its  very  language.     It  is  to  be  lamented  that  he  never  learned 
to  follow  his  own  preaching, — 

"Man's  science  is  the  culture  of  the  heart ".^** 
And,  finally,  Akenside  in  the  last  year  of  this  period  published 
his  Pleasures  of  the  Imagination  (1744),  in  which  he  finds  the  same 
source  of  inspiration.  Again  the  poet's  spirit  soars  through  the 
heavens,  "where  reason  points  the  way".^*^  The  worlds  on  high, 
"the  forms  of  atoms  moving  -^^th  incessant  change  the  elemental 
round",  "the  melting  rainbow's  vernal-tinctur'd  hues",  all  that 
the  "spacious  West  and  the  teeming  regions  of  the  South  hold  in 
quarry"  are  to  him  material  for  poetry.  And  this  poet,  who  des- 
pised the  virtuoso  with  his  studies  of  mites,  his  museums,  his  col- 
lections of  rare  plants,  joined  with  Savage,  Brooke,  and  Young  to 
praise  the  work  of  science  in  other  fields.  He  prayed,  in  his  Hymn 
to  Science  (1739),  for— 

' '  The  patient  head,  the  candid  heart. 
Devoted  to  thy  sway". 
Those  qualities  were  granted  him  in  his  later  years  when  his  medi- 
cal studies  led  him  more  thoroughly  into  the  new  experimental 
philosophy. 

Just  a  word  is  needed  here  to  summarize  what  has  been  said  of 
the  appreciation  of  the  new  science  among  the  poets.  Through 
the  lenses  of  the  telescope  the  poet's  eyes  first  saw  the  beauties  of 

"7Bk.  IV. 
i«Bk.  IX. 
i**  Hymn  to  Science. 


142  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

the  new  ideas,  and  piety  first  met  astronomy  on  friendly  terms. 
Slowly  the  new  science  was  remoulding  the  poet's  world;  the 
humble  creatures  of  earth  were  raised  into  dignity;  and  imagina- 
tion fii-st  began  to  discover  the  marvelous  that  lurks  in  the  common- 
place. While  appreciation  is  far  less  in  bulk  than  satire,  there 
is  apparent  a  sure  indication  of  the  new  attitude  that  was  to  come, 
when  ' '  the  remotest  discoveries  of  the  Chemist,  the  Botanist,  or  the 
Mineralogist,  will  be  as  proper  objects  of  the  Poet's  art  as  any 
upon  which  it  can  be  employed"/^" 

III 

Another  form  in  which  science,  old  and  new,  enters  into  litera- 
ture is  in  allusion  and  imagery.  Obviously  this  is  not  a  fair  means 
to  prove  its  rejection  or  to  test  the  progress  of  its  acceptance,  for 
the  out-worn  figures  cling  to  poetry  long  after  belief  has  fallen 
away,  but  the  gradual  disappearance  of  the  old  and  the  steady 
growth  of  the  new  can  be  traced  with  tolerable  clearness.  This 
literary  phenomenon  will  be  illustrated  here. 

One  finds  the  outgrown  belief  of  the  old  science  running  through 
the  years.  References  to  healing  by  sympathy  extend  from  Sir 
Kenelm  Digby  to  Pope;^^^  the  malignant  stars  shed  their  astrolo- 
gical influence  through  the  same  period  ;^^^  and  the  sun  moves 
round  the  earth  even  in  Pope's  Pastorals}^^  The  "lawless  comets" 
and  the  "meteor's  fire"  shine  in  countless  lines;  no  poet  failed  to 
call  attention  to  this  striking  natural  phenomenon.  But  gradual- 
ly men  lost  their  superstitious  fear,  and  when  mathematics  cal- 
culated the  comets'  course  and  the  telescope  identified  them  as 
stars,  the  old  belief  wholly  died  away, — 

"Till  from  a  comet  she  a  star  did  rise. 
Not  to  affright,  but  please,  our  wondering  eyes"."* 
The  music  of  the  spheres  was  most  difficult  to  silence,  and  sounded 
on  long  after  belief  had  faded  from  the  minds  of  both  poet  and 

150  Wordsworth,  Preface  to  the  Lyrical  Ballads,  1815. 

151  Barker,  Jane,  To  my  Uncle  C — ,  To  Mr.  C.  B.  Congreve,  Epigram;  Pope,  Pas- 
torals, Wks.,  vol.  I,  p.  28. 

1®  Wycherley,  To  a  Handsome  Woman,  On  Chloris  Rowe,  The  Fair  Penitent, 
Act  I,   8C.   1.;    Lady  Winchelsea,    The  Hurricane,  etc. 

I's*  Cf .  Blackmore,  Prince  Arthur;  Shenstone,  Elegy,  XI;  Pope,  Pastorals,  vol. 
I,  p.  23. 

^^  Lee,   Nathaniel,  Panegyric  on  J.  Dryden's  Plays. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  143 

reader.^°°  The  Ptolemaic  conception  of  the  ten  spheres  circling 
the  earth  as  their  centre  gave  to  English  poetry  imagery  that  has 
not  yet  entirely  disappeared.  It  found  expression  through  this 
period  with  surprising  frequency.'^"  The  milky  way,  like  comets 
and  meteors,  was  a  stock  image.  Gradually  the  power  of  the  tele- 
scope added  a  new  meaning  to  it;  rarely  did  a  later  poet  fail  to 
emphasize  the  fact  that  it  is  made  up  of  a  multitude  of  stars. 
' '  Thus  unseen  the  Stars  i '  th '  Element, 
United,  make  the  milky  way".'^^ 

' '  One  glittering  thought  no  sooner  strikes  the  eye. 
With  silent  wonder,  but  new  wonders  rise; 
As  in  the  milky  way  a  shining  white 
0  'erflows  the  heav  'ns  with  one  continued  light ; 
That  not  a  single  star  can  shew  his  rays, 
"Whilst  jointly  all  promote  the  common  blaze ".^^^ 

As  the  poets  began  to  strike  out  new  figures  from  the  new  science 
the  imager}'"  was  caught  up  by  various  writers,  even  the  phrasing 
being  repeated  to  the  point  of  monotony.  The  "rolling  spheres", 
the  "rolling  orbs",  and  "the  dancing  maze"  are  found  in  practic- 
ally every  description  of  the  sky,  just  as  the  "artillery  of  heaven" 
resounded  for  some  years  after  Milton  set  it  off.^^^  Unexpected 
theories  find  unexpected  repetition.  The  Royal  Society  had  lis- 
tened to  an  explanation  of  the  color  of  Damson  plums  as  due  to 
a  small  animal  that  lived  on  them.  Shadwell  ridiculed  the  idea 
in  The  Vhiuoso.  Sixty  years  later  Thomson  wrote, — 
* '  The  shining  plum, 

With  a  fine  bluish  mist  of  animals 

Clouded.  "16° 
And  Henry  Brooke,  ten  years  afterward,  gave  expression  to  the 
same  idea. 

"^Cf.  Blackmore,  Prince  Arthur;  Crowne,  Pref.  to  Ambitious  Statesman;  Con- 
greve,  A   Ilymn  to  Harmony;  Winchelsea,   The  Hymn. 

"« Cf.  Otway,  Yenice  Preserved,  Act  V,  sc.  2 ;  Congreve,  Of  Pleasing,  The  Birth 
of  the  Muse;  Rowe,  The  Fair  Penitent,  Prologue;  Arbuthnot,  Enow  Thyself;  Tickell, 
On  the  Prospect  of  Peace;  Pope,  Rape  of  the  Lock,  Canto  II. 

1S7  Wycherley,   To  a  Lady. 

issAddison,   An  Account  of  the  Qreatest  English  Poets. 

*^  See   Dryden,    Burnet. 

^'^  Autumn,  pp.  126-7,  Crowell. 


144  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

"Or  azure  tribes  that  o'er  the  damson  bloom, 
And  plant  the  regions  of  the  ripening  plum".^"^ 
In  like  manner,  Dry  den  coined  a  new  figure  in  Annus  Mirabilis,^^^ 
comparing  the  trade  of  a  nation  to  the  circulation  of  the  blood. 
This  was  repeated  in  Jane  Barker's  A  Farewell  to  Poetry,  and 
much  later  in  Edward  Young's  Reflections  on  the  Public  Situation. 
The  scientific  apparatus  appeared  on  a  few  occasions.  One  of 
the  "last  sajdngs  of  a  mouse "^^^  was  to  rejoice  that  there  was  "no 
Gresham  engine  my  lean  Corps  to  squeeze".  Shenstone  has 
"empty  as  the  air-pumps  drained  of  air".^^*  Congreve  called 
vanity, — 

"That  Telescope  of  fools,  through  which  they  spy 
Merit  remote,  and  think  the  object  nigh."^^'' 
And  Pope  wrote, — 

"As  the  gay  Prism  but  mocks  the  flatter 'd  eye, 
And  gives  to  ev'ry  object  ev'ry  dye."^^" 
One  of  the  most  elaborate  figures  is  by  Andrew  Marvell,  To  the 
King,  on  the  use  of  the  telescope  in  observing  the  spots  on  the  sun. 
The  "sooty  chemist"  never  attained  to  respectability  in  the 
poetry  of  this  period.     There  are  two  ways  in  which  he  was  pre- 
sented; first,  he  was  "feeding  perpetual  fires"  in  the  vain  hope  of 
transmuting  the  baser  metals  into  gold,  secondly,  he  was  a  quack 
in  concocting  medicines.     As  an  alchemist  the  following  lines  from 
Parnell's  poem.  To  Mr.  Pope,  characterize  him  fairly, — 
"The  new  machines  in  names  of  ridicule. 
The  grave  frenzy  of  the  Chymic  fool." 
The  contempt  for  the  chemist's  medical  skill  is  voiced  by  Lady 
Mary  "Wortley  Montague  in  Town  Eclogues  (Saturday), — 
' '  Ye  cruel  Chemists,  what  withheld  your  aid ! 
Could  no  pomatum  save  a  trembling  maid? 
How  false  and  trifling  is  that  art  ye  boast  !"^®^ 

"1  Universal  Beauty,  Bk.  I,  243-4. 

"M.  5. 

**•  Anonymous. 

i«*  The  Progress  of  Taste. 

«»  Of  Pleasing. 

''■^Essay  on  Satire. 

107  Town  Eclogues,  Saturday. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  POETRY  145 

The  physician  was  usually  associated  with  the  apothecary  as  two 
rogues  of  a  kind.  As  in  comedy,  the  doctor  vaunts  the  powers  he 
does  not  possess.  The  literary  men  who  were  in  the  profession, 
such  as  Arbuthnot  and  Akenside,  are  silent  regarding  him.  Samuel 
Garth  is  satirically  resentful  of  the  selfishness  shown  by  the  mem- 
bers of  his  own  professional  fraternity.  But  Blair,  a  layman,  see- 
ing men  and  women  dying  around  him  in  spite  of  the  professed 
powers  of  cure,  writes  defiantly. — 

"Where  is  thy  boasted  implements  of  art? 

nor  fly  nor  insect, 

Nor  writhy  snake,  escaped  thy  deep  research. 
But  why  this  apparatus  ?  why  this  cost  ? 
Tell  us,  doughty  keepers  from  the  grave. 
Where  are  thy  recipes  and  cordials  now. 
With  the  long  list  of  vouchers  for  thy  cures  ? 
Alas !  thou  speakest  not, — the  bold  impostor 
Looks  not  more  silly  when  the  cheat's  found  out".^^^ 
Of  the  scientists  themselves  the  only  one  to  whom  the  references 
are  consistently  laudatory  is  Newton.     Lower,  Sloane,  Flamsteed, 
Lister,  and  Boyle  are  mentioned  rarely.     But  it  is  to  Newton  that 
science  was  indebted  for  much  of  its  dignity.     The  character  of 
this  great  man  was  irreproachable, — indeed,   commanded  respect 
and  honor.     Even  the  spiteful  Pope,  who  alone  dared  to  cast  a 
slur  upon  him,  said, — 

"Nature  and  Nature's  Laws  lay  hid  in  Night; 
God  said.  Let  Newton  be !  and  all  was  Light. '  '^^^ 

IV 

Clearly  the  new  philosophy  did  not  find  a  ready  or  a  full  inter- 
pretation among  the  poets.  The  reasons  for  this  are  not  readily 
discovered.  In  a  sense  poets  are  conservative ;  the  poetic  imagina- 
tion cherishes  the  idols  after  they  have  been  disowned  by  the  phil- 
osophers. The  raw,  new  facts  of  scientific  discovery  are  not  quick- 
ly surrounded  by  the  necessary  associations  for  a  direct  poetic 
expression  of  emotion.  "The  remotest  discoveries  of  the  Chemist, 
the  Botanist,  or  the  Mineralogist,  will  be  as  proper  objects  of  the 

i«8Tfte  Orave. 

»»Pope,  Epitaphs,  XII. 


146  THE  NEW  SCIENCE   AND   ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

Poet's  art  as  any  upon  which  it  can  be  employed,  if  the  time  should 
ever  come  when  these  things  shall  he  familiar  to  us,  and  the  rela- 
tions under  which  they  are  contemplated  by  the  followers  of  these 
respective  sciences  shall  he  manifestly  and  palpahly  material  to 
us  as  enjoying  and  suffering  heings".^""^  The  comic  and  satiric 
representation  of  the  new  philosopher  as  a  foolish,  whimsical  be- 
ing, pursuing  a  kind  of  knowledge  that  was  not  "manifestly  and 
palpably  material ' '  to  the  lives  of  men,  no  doubt  delayed  a  genuine 
appreciation  of  the  value  of  scientific  work. 

Furthermore,  the  poetry  of  this  period  is  conspicuously  emo- 
tionless. Poets  looked  into  their  heads,  not  into  their  hearts,  when 
they  wrote.  They  could  not,  therefore,  be  expected  to  understand 
and  interpret  "the  deepest  convictions  of  their  age".  This  is  the 
obvious  reason  that  the  great  bulk  of  the  verse  of  this  time  has 
become  a  dead  letter;  for  "the  imaginative  literature  of  an  age 
must  express  the  genuine  feelings  of  that  age,  or  it  will  perish 
still-bom  ".^^^  And,  finally,  there  is  always  a  temperamental  ele- 
ment of  discord,  among  the  poets,  between  imagination  and  the 
scientific  spirit. 

no  Wordsworth,  Preface  to  the  Lyrical  Ballads,  1815. 

"^  Stephens,  Leslie,  Hist,  of  Eng.  Thought  in  18th  Cent.,  vol.  II,  p.  348. 


CHAPTER  V 
The  New  Science  and  Prose 
In  the  work  of  Sir  Francis  Bacon  "the  English  language  first 
became  the  vehicle  for  scientific  expression".  His  predecessors, 
"whether  in  science  or  philosophy,  used  the  common  language  of 
learned  men",  which  was  of  course  Latin.^  But  Bacon's  influence 
was  not  immediately  felt;  the  old  ornate  style  with  its  "involved 
and  artificial  intricacies  and  copious  classical  quotations ' '  continued 
in  Burton,  Browne,  ]\Iilton,  Fuller,  Taylor,  and  others.  Even  in 
the  Restoration  period  the  English  scientific  writers  did  not  have 
full  confidence  in  their  mother  tongue ;  Willughby,  Ray,  Grew  and 
Sydenham  used  Latin  for  their  serious  work;  Newton's  Principles 
first  appeared  in  the  same  language,  as  did  Burnet's  Sacred  Theory. 
A  new  simplicity  and  directness,  however,  may  be  found  in  Wilkins's 
New  World  in  the  Moon  (1638)  and  later  in  Walton's  Complete 
Angler  (1655).  This  new  prose  art,  "the  clear  and  naked  style 
approaching  mathematical  plainness  ",2  was  caught  up  by  certain 
of  the  virtuosi  and  became  the  ideal  of  the  Royal  Society.  With 
this  model  before  them  the  new  philosophers  made  a  spirited  effort 
to  chronicle  the  new  observations  of  science  in  the  best  literary 
form  of  the  age.^  This  effort  lasted  through  the  last  forty  years 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  then  gave  way  to  a  satiric  ex- 
ploitation by  the  group  of  brilliant  Queen  Anne  wits.  During 
these  early  years  of  the  eighteenth  century  natural  science  devel- 
oped its  own  direct,  non-literary  exposition  and  found  only  inci- 
dental representation  in  literary  prose. 

Three  distinct  phases,  therefore,  are  to  be  found  in  the  study 
of  the  new  science  and  the  prose  of  this  period.  First,  there  is 
an  early  effort  to  give  an  enthusiastic  literary  expression,  begin- 
ning with  Wilkins  and  ceasing  practically  "VNith  the  end  of  the 
century ;  secondly,  there  is  a  satiric  exploitation  of  the  new  interest 
reaching  from  John  Eachard,  the  schoolmaster,  to  Ward,  the  Lon- 
don Spy;  thirdly,  there  is  an  incidental  representation  in  the 
philosophers,  and  a  direct,  non-literary  exposition  from  the  scien- 
tists themselves. 

*  The   Cambridge  History   of  English   Literature,   vol.   IV,   p.   308. 
'  Sprat,   Thomas,   History   of  the  Royal  Society,   p.    113. 
•Elton,   Oliver,   The  Augustan  Ages,   p.   419. 


148  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 


The  influence  of  the  new  study  of  physiology  had  early  ap- 
peared in  the  titles,  at  least,  of  Burton's  Anatomy  of  Melancholy 
and  Towgood's  Zootomia.  But  it  was  the  astronomical  studies,  es- 
pecially the  new  telescope  and  the  recent  discoveries  of  Galileo, 
that  stimulated  Wilkins,  one  of  the  eldest  of  the  group  at  Gresham 
College,  to  write  his  Neiv  World  in  the  Moon.  He  was,  like  the 
Duchess  of  Newcastle,  bubbling  over  with  "Phantasies",  one  of 
which  led  him  to  discuss  with  an  appearance  of  scientific  method 
the  vexed  question  as  to  whether  or  not  the  moon  was  an  inhabited 
world. 

This  writer  was  in  full  sympathy  with  the  new  scientific  spirit, 
became  a  charter  member  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  was  active  in 
its  work.  His  book  was  made  the  butt  of  much  ridicule  during 
the  succeeding  years,  especially  his  Proposition  XIV  where  he  dis- 
courses on  the  art  of  flying.  This  passage  together  with  the  in- 
troduction to  Hooke's  Micrographia  made  the  new  science  respon- 
sible for  these  absurd  claims  for  fifty  years.  But  the  style  of  the 
book  is  free  from  omateness  and  approaches  the  "naked  style"  of 
the  later  scientists.  There  is  little  else  of  value  in  the  work  except 
as  it  shows  that  at  this  early  date  a  man,  thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  new  scientific  spirit,  attempted  to  give  a  literary  expression  to 
his  observations. 

"Walton's  Complete  Angler,  too,  has  a  share  in  the  new  scien- 
tific movement ;  the  expert  speaks  in  him  as  well  as  the  enthusiast. 
His  knowledge  of  the  different  species  of  fish  and  insects  is  the 
same  as  that  underlying  the  work  of  Willughby,  Ray,  and  Grew. 
The  power  of  ancient  authority  is  still  strong  upon  him ;  his  most 
frequent  references  are  to  Aristotle,  Pliny,  Gesner,  and  Dubratius, 
and  "vulgar  errors"  find  a  too  ready  acceptance  with  him.*  And 
yet  he  has  looked  with  his  own  eyes,  too;  he  has  come  to  know 
thoroughly  the  habitats  of  the  A'arious  kinds  of  fish ;  he  has  learned 
their  anatomy,  their  ways  of  life,  their  methods  of  breeding.^  He 
has  come  under  the  influence  of  Bacon's  Natural  History  and  is 
familiar  with  the  work  of  the  Royal  Society.*  "Walton  himself  had 

*  The   Complete   Angler,   p.    75,    97. 

"Ibid.   pp.    74,   97,    118,    159. 

"The  Complete  Angler,  pp.   74,   97,    118,    159. 


THE   NEW  SCIENCE  AND  PROSE  149 

made  experiments  after  the  manner  of  the  new  scientists.  ' '  I  have 
seen,"  he  says,  "and  may  therefore  affirm  it"/  There  were  some 
thing:s  that  were  required  to  have  the  confirmation  of  his  senses 
to  gain  his  belief.  "And  you  are  to  know,  that  in  Hampshire, 
which  I  think  exceeds  all  England  for  swift,  shallow,  clear,  pleasant 
brooks,  and  store  of  Trouts,  they  used  to  catcli  Trouts  in  the  night, 
by  the  light  of  a  Trout-spear,  or  other  ways.  This  kind  of  way 
they  catch  very  many;  but  I  would  not  believe  it  till  I  was  an  eye- 
witness of  it".^ 

This  lover  of  sport  understands  the  passion  for  curiosities  that 
actuated  the  antiquaries.  ' '  These,  to  any  that  love  learning,  must 
be  pleasing".''  The  monument  of  Livy,  "the  humble  house  in 
which  St.  Paul  was  content  to  dwell",  the  bay-trees  on  the  tomb 
of  Virgil  are  pleasing  and  profitable  to  see.^"  There  is  no  astonish- 
ment, therefore,  to  discover  that  he  is  acquainted  with  the  writings 
of  Meric  Casaubon  and  is  familiar  with  the  collection  of  rarities 
made  by  John  Tradescant.^^ 

This  gentleman  angler  is  an  antiquarian  and  naturalist,  living 
to  a  great  extent  under  the  domination  of  ancient  authority  and 
yet  looking  out  upon  rural  England  from  the  shade  of  his  beloved 
sycamore  or  from  the  shelter  of  his  favorite  hedge  with  open  eyes 
and  with  keen  and  accurate  observation.  "It  may  not  be  improper 
here  to  take  notice,  that  in  this,  and  several  other  parts  of  the 
book,  the  facts  related  by  the  author  do  most  remarkably  coincide 
with  later  discoveries  of  the  most  diligent  and  sagacious  natural- 
ists".^^ There  is  a  simplicity  here  that  Sprat  would  praise;  there 
is  a  quaintness,  too,  that  gives  distinction  and  personality;  and  in 
many  places  there  is  a  realism  struggling  with  ornateness  for  free 
expression.  "But  the  nightingale,  another  of  my  airy  creatures, 
breathes  sweet  loud  music  out  of  her  little  instrumental  throat, 
that  it  might  make  mankind  to  think  miracles  are  not  yet  ceased. 
He  that  at  midnight,  when  the  very  labourer  sleeps  securely,  should 
hear,  as  I  have  very  often,  the  clear  airs,  the  sweet  descants,  the 

'  The    Complete   Angler,   p.   96. 

8  Ibid.    p.    117. 

»  Ibid.  p.   34. 

"Ibid.  p.  42. 

"  Ibid. 

^  The   Complete   Angler,   Editor,   p.    123. 


150  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

natural  rising  and  falling,  the  doubling  and  redoubling  of  her 
voice,  might  well  be  lifted  above  earth,  and  say,  'Lord,  what  music 
hast  thou  provided  for  the  Saints  in  Heaven,  when  thou  affordest 
bad  men  such  music  on  earth'  "."  In  "Walton  there  is  a  partial 
fulfilment  of  Sprat's  injunction  to  walk  in  nature  as  in  a  garden, 
and  to  taste  of  its  plenty.  ''There  I  sat  viewing  the  silver  streams 
glide  silently  towards  their  centre,  the  tempestuous  sea ;  yet  some- 
times opposed  by  rugged  roots  and  pebble-stones,  which  broke  their 
waves,  and  turned  them  into  foam,  and  sometimes  I  beguiled  time 
by  viewing  the  harmless  lambs;  some  leaping  securely  in  the  cool 
shade,  whilst  others  sported  themselves  in  the  sun"."  Thus  with 
the  eyes  of  a  scientist  and  the  feeling  of  a  poet,  Piscator  has  com- 
bined the  delightful  qualities  of  accuracy  and  a  sense  for  beauty. 
He  would  not  have  felt  himself  out  of  place  among  the  group  of 
scientists  at  Gresham  College,  nor  would  they  have  despised  his 
fund  of  accurate  information.  Part  scientist,  part  poet,  and 
wholly  an  honest  gentleman,  Izaak  "Walton  finds  his  early  place 
in  this  new  influence. 

Aside  from  all  controversies  between  sects,  or  between  theology 
and  philosophy,  is  the  quiet  and  interested  study  by  John  Evelyn 
of  the  forest  trees  in  England  (Silva).  The  task  was  imposed 
upon  Evelyn  by  royal  request,  but  the  genius  of  the  man  was  such 
that  the  resulting  book,  instead  of  being  a  dull  report,  is  yet  alive 
with  the  pleasure  of  the  waiter.  New  knowledge  has  led  to  new 
interest;  intimacy  with  nature  has  begotten  enthusiasm;  and  a 
bulletin  has  been  made  a  piece  of  literature. 

The  book  deals  with  the  familiar  trees  of  the  English  forests 
and  with  those  that  have  been  and  may  be  imported.  The  genera 
are  treated  upon  a  common  plan, — kinds,  care,  habitat,  and  uses. 
The  oak,  elm,  walnut,  beech,  ash,  maple,  sycamore,  cherry,  hazel, 
birch,  and  many  others  are  described.  The  uniformity  of  the  plan 
gives  a  touch  of  monotony  to  the  book,  yet  a  sense  of  freshness 
attends  almost  every  description.  At  times  the  author  injects  an 
element  of  personal  feeling  into  the  passage.  Of  the  holly  he 
writes, — "Is  there  under  heaven  a  more  glorious  and  refreshing 
object  of  the  kind,   than  an  impregnable   hedge  of   about  four 

lajbid.  p.  26. 
"Ibid.  p.  96. 


THE   NEW  SCIENCE   AND   PROSE  151 

hundred  feet  in  length,  nine  feet  high,  and  five  in  diameter,  which 
I  can  show  in  my  now  ruined  Gardens  at  Sayes  Court  at  any  time 
of  the  year,  glittering  with  its  armed  and  varnished  leaves?  Tlie 
taller  standards  at  orderly  distances,  blushing  with  their  natural 
coral:  It  mocks  the  rudest  assaults  of  the  weather,  or  hedge- 
breakers."^' 

The  new  science  may  claim  the  content  and  inception  of  this 
book.  Its  purpose  is  practical,  its  method  is  scientific ;  if  literature 
claims  it  all  at  the  last  the  reason  is  that  the  pleasure  of  the  author 
has  been  imparted  through  its  pages  to  the  reader.  Silva  is  one 
of  those  rare  instances  where  a  delight  is  given  by  sugar-coating 
instruction.  There  is  plenty  of  learning  in  the  book;  botanical 
names  and  Latin  phrases  abound.  And  there  is  the  emotion  of  a 
discoverer  and  of  a  religious  observer  who  wonders  at  the  infinite 
handiwork  of  God.  "And  what  Mortal  is  there  so  perfect  an 
Atomist,  who  will  undertake  to  detect  the  one  thousandth  part, 

or  point,  of  so  exile  a  Grain,  as  that  in  sensible  rudiment 

which  brings  forth  the  lofty  Fir-tree  and  the  spreading  Oak? 
That  trees  of  so  enormous  an  height  and  magnitude,  as  we  find 
some  Elms,  and  Cypresses;  that  others  hard  as  iron  and  solid  as 

marble should  be  swaddled  and  involved  within  so  weak 

and  feeble  a  substance,  without  the  least  luxation,  confusion,  and 
disorder  of  parts !  That  when  they  are  buried  in  the  moist  womb 
of  Earth,  which  so  easily  dissolves  and  corrupts  substances  so 
much  harder,  yet  this  should  be  able  in  time  to  displace  and  rend 
asunder  whole  rocks  of  stone,  and  sometimes  to  cleave  them  be- 
yond the  force  of  iron  wedges,  so  even  to  remove  mountains !  That 
our  trees,  like  man  (whose  inverted  symbol  he  is)  being  sown  in 
corruption,  rise  in  glory,  and  little  and  little  ascending  into  an 
hard  erect  figure  of  comely  dimensions,  become  a  solid  tower,  as 
it  were !  And  that  which  but  lately  a  single  ant  could  easily  have 
borne  to  his  little  cavern,  should  now  become  capable  of  resisting 
the  fury,  and  braving  the  rage  of  the  most  impetuous  storms. '  '^^ 

This  early  and  splendid  appreciation  the  new  philosophy  found 
in  Walton  and  Evelyn.  These  two  books  are  among  the  "re- 
nowned victories  of  peace".     They  have  the  merits  of  spontaneity, 

^^  Silva,  p.   386. 
^  Silva,   p.    645. 


152  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

patriotism,  and  honesty.  They  sprang  from  a  genuine  scientific 
interest  and  from  a  "reason  free  and  unpossest". 

In  that  debatable  land  between  prose  as  literature  and  as  non- 
literature  lie  such  books  as  Sir  Robert  Boyle's  The  Sceptical  Chem- 
ist, Occasional  Reflections,  and  The  Christian  Virtuoso,  Hooka's 
Micrographia,  J.  Childrey's  Britania  Baconica,  Evelyn's  Sculptura 
and  Acetaria  and  Ray's  Wisdom  of  God.  Primarily,  these  books 
were  all  wi'itten  for  instruction,  not  for  pleasure,  and  certainly 
were  inspired  by  scientific  research.  There  is,  however,  a  con- 
scious attempt  to  give  them  literary  form.  The  three  books  of 
Boyle  are,  perhaps,  his  most  nearly  literary  productions.  The 
Sceptical  Chemist  is  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue  between  Eleutherius 
and  Carneades  on  the  latest  chemical  theories ;  it  is  a  symposium  on 
the  general  question  as  to  whether  there  are  three  or  five  primary 
elements.  Carneades,  who  speaks  for  Boyle,  develops  a  general 
sceptical  attitude  of  the  old  beliefs,  and  especially  of  the  alchemical 
theory  of  transmuting  the  baser  metals  into  gold.  It  was  this 
attitude  that  "made  a  crisis  in  chemical  theory ".^^  In  Occasional 
Reflections  there  is  a  series  of  philosophical  discourses  on  various 
subjects,  some  so  unimportant  and  trivial  as  to  furnish  the  basis 
of  Swift's  burlesque  Meditations  on  a  BrootnsticJf.  For  examples, 
see  Proposition  I,  Section  1,  "Upon  the  Manner  of  giving  Meat  to 
his  Dog",  Proposition  IV,  Section  1,  "Upon  Paring  a  rare  Sum- 
mer Apple",  Proposition  II,  Section  2,  "Upon  his  Making  a  Fire", 
Proposition  IX,  Last  Section,  "Upon  the  finding  of  a  Horse-shoe 
in  the  High-way".  The  Christian  Virtuoso  is  really  a  defense  of 
the  new  philosophy  against  the  accusation  of  scepticism;  its  or- 
iginal purpose  was  "to  prove  a  man  may  be  a  good  christian  and 
at  the  same  time  an  experimental  philosopher".^^ 

Hooke's  Micrographia  is  a  series  of  philosophical  reports  re- 
sulting from  his  experiments.  The  style  is  clear  and  terse  and 
aims  to  meet  the  ideal  of  the  scientists.  Tliere  is  enthusiasm  here, 
also,  born  of  discovery;  Hooke  feels  himself  a  pioneer  making 
straight  the  way  for  truth.  But  the  original  purpose  was  to  im- 
part information,  to  explain  natural  phenomena,  such  as  the  es- 
sence of  fire,  the  cause  of  color,  etc.     Childrey's  Britania  Baconica, 

"Elton,    Oliver,    The   Augustan   Ages,   p.    160. 
^^  The    Christian   Virtuoso,   Introduction. 


THE   NEW  SCIENCE   AND   PROSE  153 

as  its  title  implies,  was  written  to  carry  forward  the  work  of  re- 
constructing the  natural  history  of  England  after  Bacon's  man- 
ner. It  is  filled  with  the  author's  observations  of  curiosities  and 
phenomena  in  Staffordshire.  There  is,  however,  no  attempt  at 
style ;  for  the  most  part  it  is  a  mere  catalogue.  For  the  reader  of 
today  who  knows  Gilbert  White's  Natural  History  of  Selhorne  it  is 
dry  and  stupid.  The  Sculpt ura  and  Acetaria  of  Evelyn  have  al- 
most as  much  right  to  be  classed  among  the  works  of  literature  as 
Silva.  But  they  are  manifestly  inferior  to  that  book  and  illus- 
trate no  new  literary  expression  of  science.  Their  titles  indicate 
with  sufficient  clearness  the  fields  of  interest  out  of  which  they 
were  harvested.  Ray's  Wisdom  of  God,  also,  has  some  claim  to  at- 
tention. Just  as  certain  poets,  filled  with  piety,  found  new  emo- 
tion in  the  revelations  of  astronomy,  just  as  Newton  sought  to 
prove  the  existence  of  a  God  from  his  new  system  of  the  world, 
so  the  observers  of  the  structure  and  relationship  of  plants  and 
animals,  the  discoverers  of  the  wonderful  mechanism  in  even  the 
most  minute  forms,  found  reason  to  proclaim  the  "wisdom  of 
God".  Of  this  number  was  Ray,  the  botanist.  The  purpose  of 
his  book  was  primarily  theological  and  it  falls  into  its  proper  place 
in  the  development  of  the  ideas  of  the  systemists,  who  have  as  their 
eloquent  spokesmen,  Shaftesbury,  Bolingbroke,  and  Pope.^^ 

English  literature  in  any  narrowed  sense  can  hardly  claim  the 
prose  Avorks  of  the  greatest  scientist  of  the  period.  Sir  Isaac  New- 
ton. The  Principia,  his  most  important  work,  was  written  or- 
iginally in  Latin  according  to  the  custom  of  learned  men  of  his 
time.  Optics  has  no  pretensions  to  literary  expression;  it  is  mere- 
ly a  bald  statement  of  experiments  and  demonstrations.  The  fam- 
ous Letters  to  Bentley  are  less  cold  and  rigid,  but  are  directed  to- 
ward theology,  where  ' '  he  argues  an  intelligent  agent  from  the 
discovered  motions  of  the  planets".  Newton  passed  over  wholly 
within  the  realms  of  theology  in  such  a  work  as  Observations  on  the 
Prophecy  of  Daniel.  The  new  science,  of  course,  followed  him 
thither,  for  it  had  become  a  part  of  his  habit  of  thought.     And 

1*  The  most  complete  investigation  into  the  problem  of  the  deists  was  made  by 
Joseph  Butler  in  his  Analogy  (1736).  The  new  science  contributed  to  this  whole 
theological  disciission  (1)  the  search  for  natural  causes,  and  (2)  the  new  conception 
of  the  physical  world.  Butler's  Analogy  is  a  criticism  on  the  attempts  to  prove  by 
a  posteriori  methods  the  existence  of  a  God. 


154  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

here,  too,  he  is  raised  by  religious  contemplation  to  something  like 
emotional  literary  expression,  where  the  "pressure  of  an  immense 
brooding  mind  can  be  felt".^°  "'Did  blind  Chance  know  there  was 
light,  and  what  was  its  refraction,  and  fit  the  eyes  of  all  creatures, 
after  the  most  curious  manner,  to  make  use  of  it?"-^  But  this 
great  mind  never  gave  in  any  sense  an  adequate  literary  expres- 
sion to  those  lone  voyages  on  the  seas  of  thought.  His  work  was, 
however,  incalculably  stimulating  and  his  personality  gave  dignity 
and  seriousness  to  scientific  research. 

There  is  another  class  of  books  of  which  mention  must  be  made ; 
namely,  the  books  of  travel.  Ray's  Account  of  his  Journeys  on 
the  Continent,  Lister's  Journey  to  Paris,  burlesqued  by  William 
King  in  his  Journey  to  London,  Dampier's  Voyages,  Thoresby's 
Autobiography,  and  others,  contain  the  same  spirit  of  inquiry  that 
impelled  the  new  philosophers  in  their  microscopical  and  tele- 
scopical  investigations.  As  the  scientists  were  sent  forth  into  all 
the  world  from  Solomon's  House  in  The  New  Atlantis,  so,  in  real 
life,  did  the  new  philosophers  go  among  strange  peoples,  Ray  and 
Willughby  to  the  continent,  Browne  to  Iceland,  Lister  to  Paris, 
Sir  Robert  Moray  to  Hungary,  Halley  to  South  America,  Thoresby 
to  Holland.  Books  of  prose  resulted  from  these  excursions,  that 
afford  stores  of  information  for  the  student  of  social  and  political 
history,  but  were  never  intended  as  literary  productions. 

II 

The  new  science,  after  an  early  appreciation,  fell  among  the 
thorns  of  satire.  The  "Wits  and  Railleurs"  in  prose  attacked 
without  mercy,  yet  with  more  discrimination  than  the  poets.  There 
is  keen  and  cutting  satire  in  The  Grounds  and  Occasions  of  the 
Contempt  of  the  Clergy  (1670),  by  the  schoolmaster,  John  Each- 
ard.  He  finds  fault  with  the  new  philosophy  for  its  evil  effect 
upon  the  students  who  are  preparing  for  the  ministry.  He  does 
not  claim  that  it  gives  them  wrong  ideas.  "Neither  shall  I  here 
examine  which  Philosophy,  the  Old  or  the  New,  makes  the  best 
sermons.  It  is  hard  to  say,  that  exhortation  can  be  to  no  purpose, 
if  the  preacher  believes  that  the  earth  turns  round!  or  that  his 

2'  Elton,   Oliver,   The  Augustan  Ages,  p.   59. 
^Observations  on  the  Prophecy   of  Daniel. 


THE   NEW  SCIENCE   AND   PROSE  155 

reproofs  take  no  effect  unless  he  suppose  a  vacuum.  There  have 
been  good  sermons,  no  question !  made  in  the  days  of  Materia  Prima 
and  Occult  Qualities;  and  there  are,  doubtless,  still  good  dis- 
courses now,  under  the  reign  of  Atoms".  But  the  new  science,  he 
declares,  has  made  the  young  students  pedantic.  "And,  for  the 
most  part,  an  ordinary  cheesemonger  or  plumseller,  that  scarce  (ly) 
ever  heard  of  a  university ;  shall  write  much  better  sense,  and  more 
to  the  purpose  than  these  young  philosophers,  who  injudiciously 
hunting  only  for  great  words,  make  themselves  learnedly  ridicul- 
ous".-^ And  lastly,  he  asserts,  the  young  preacher  who  has  filled 
his  commonplace  book  with  similitudes  from  "the  old  philosophy, 
and  Ptolemy's  system  of  the  world,"  would  best  "go  a-gleaning 
for  new  ones;  it  being,  nowadays,  much  more  gentle  and  warrant- 
able to  take  similitudes  from  the  Man  in  the  ]\Ioon  than  from  solid 
orbs ;  for  though  few  people  do  absolutely  believe  there  is  any  such 
Eminent  Person  there;  yet  the  thing  is  possible,  whereas  the 
other  is  not".-^  Eachard's  criticism  was  no  doubt  justified  by 
facts,  for  many  students  must  have  left  the  university  like  "the 
pert  young  Soph",  mth  his  memory  filled  with  the  canting  terms 
of  the  new  philosophy  and  his  mind  devoid  of  any  clear  ideas. 
Of  such  were  the  pedants,  who  lacked  the  humility  of  the  true 
scientist  and  professed  boldly  a  knowledge  which  they  never  pos- 
sessed. 

The  irrepressible  William  King  wrote  numerous  satires  on  the 
new  science.  His  TransacUoneer,  "a  burlesque  satire  of  some 
merit",-*  has  already  been  mentioned.  Dr.  Johnson  thought  the 
attack  was  aimed  at  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  who  was  then  Secretary  of 
the  Royal  Society.-^  The  character  of  King's  attack  may  be  de- 
termined from  his  Miscellanies.  In  the  first  essay,  Animadver- 
sions on  the  Pretended  Account  of  Denmark,  he  ridicules  the  Dan- 
ish university.  There  are,  he  says,  splendid  buildings  and  numer- 
ous students,  the  two  prime  necessities  for  a  great  school.  But  of 
scholarship,  of  great  teachers  and  sound  learning  he  has  nothing  to 

22  Arber's  Reprints,  vol.   Ill,  p.  262. 
Mlbid.    p.    263-4. 

«  Swift's  Wks.  vol.  V,  p.   154,  note. 
=*  Johnson's  Wks.  X,  p.  32. 


156  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

say.-*  He  derides  the  discoveries  of  Bartholinus  and  Borrichius." 
His  Journey  to  London  gives  a  pretended  account  of  his  visit  to 
the  virtuosi  there.  "I  heard  of  several  Persons  that  had  great 
Collections  of  Rarities,  Pictures,  and  Statues".-^  Among  these 
rarities  are  the  following: — A  Roman  glass,  a  rummer  of  two 
quarts,  "a  copy  of  writing  said  to  be  the  Devil's  writing",  a  Mil- 
ler's thumb,  several  sorts  of  tadpoles  and  sticklebacks.^®  He  holds 
a  conversation  with  certain  ones  of  the  experimenters.  "I  had 
several  Discourses  with  Mr.  Muddifond,  about  an  old  Cat  and  a 
young  Kitling  in  an  Air-Pump,  and  how  the  Cat  died  after  16 
Pumps,  but  the  Kitling  surviv'd  500  Pumps  ".^*^  He  received  as 
souvenirs  from  these  virtuosi,  Mr.  Muddifond  and  Mr.  Goodenough, 
two  human  hearts.  In  the  Tower  he  finds  a  whole  menagerie, 
"Lyons,  Tygers,  Catamountains,  two  Owls,  and  a  calf-skin  stuft". 
Being  himself  a  virtuoso,  he  sees  nothing  of  interest  in  the  Royal 
Mint  except  "a  coin  from  Palmyra  ".^^  Mr.  Shuttle  worth  shows 
him  such  great  curiosities  as  "a  Stone  out  of  Scotland  with  the 
names  of  all  those  killed  at  chevy  Chase ",  "  the  skin  of  a  Cap  Ass, 
some  Land  Snails,  a  thin  Oyster,  some  papers  of  Swammerdam 
with  Figures  of  Tadpoles,  an  Egyptian  Rattle,  and  great  Cases 
full  of  Playthings  from  France".  Connected  with  these  virtuosi 
are  the  quack  doctors  whose  advertisements  "covered  the  walls 
everywhere  about  the  town".  Here  is  a  specimen;  "AQUA 
TETRACHYMAGOGON,  Rear,  Try,  Judge,  and  Speak  as  You 
Find".^^  This  traveller  also  visits  the  famous  Chelsea  Gardens 
and  inspects  the  medicinal  plants  there.^^  At  the  close  of  the 
Journey  is  an  apology  for  not  furnishing  the  reader  with  drawings 
of  "the  Wren's  Nest,  the  Stickleback,  the  Two  Snails,  and  the 
two  Grasshoppers".  "My  Bookseller  said  the  Graver  was  out  of 
the  way".^* 

i'*  Miscellanies,  pp.   191-3. 

2^  Ibid.    p.    189. 

28  Ibid.  p.   223. 

»  Ibid. 

»<>Ibid.  p.   225. 

s^Ibid.  p.  228. 

^  Miscellanies,  p.   233. 

33  Ibid.  p.  235;  p.  242. 

»«Ibid.  p.  304. 


THE   NEW  SCIENCE  AND  PROSE  157 

In  the  dialogue,  called  Affectation  of  the  Learned  Lady,  there  is 
portrayed  a  comic  character,  who  is  the  equal  of  Valeria  in  the 
Basset-Table  and  Lady  Science  in  The  Humours  of  Oxford.  Cal- 
phurnia  keeps  on  her  table,  instead  of  toilet  articles,  "the  works 
of  Jansenius,  Descartes,  Casaubon,  Kircher,  with  such  like  Authors, 
and  Manuscripts  innumerable".^^  "I  was  so  visited  in  the  Morn- 
ing", she  explains,  "by  the  Virtuosi,  Criticks,  Poets,  Booksellers; 
so  taken  up  with  my  Correspondence  with  the  learned  both  at 
home  and  Abroad,  that  I  had  little  time  to  talk  with  my  Milliner, 
Dresser,  Mantua-iMaker,  and  such  illiterate  People".^"  So  greatly 
absorbed  is  she  in  these  scientific  interests  that  she  ' '  keeps  a  calling 
day  once  a  fortnight  for  the  ladies,  but  everyday  for  the  Virtuosi".^' 
T]ie  Dialogues  of  the  Dead^^  is  a  satire  on  the  famous  astrologer, 
Lilly,  and  Modern  Learning  on  the  study  of  insects.  The  former 
does  not  touch  upon  the  new  science ;  the  tone  of  the  latter  has  long 
since  grown  familiar.  Moderno  appears  bespattered  with  filth, 
and,  on  the  enquiry  of  Indifferentio,  accounts  for  his  condition  by 
saying  he  has  been  in  a  ditch  in  search  of  knowledge;  for  "there 
has  been  more  true  Experience  in  Natural  Philosophy  gather 'd 
out  of  Ditches  in  this  latter  Century  than  Pliny  and  Aristotle  were 
Masters  of  both  together".^''  Although  the  spring  has  not  fully 
come,  he  has  gone  out  into  the  fields  because  he  has  grown  weary 
of  the  "winter-sports  within  Doors,  as  Rat-Catching,  Mouse-fley- 
ing.  Crevice-searching  for  Spiders,  Cricket-dissecting,  and  the 
like"."" 

"Indifferentio, — Pray,  Sir,  have  you  not  some  Diversions  pe- 
culiar to  the  summer? 

Moderno, — Oh !  Yes !  infinite !  Maggots,  Flies,  Gnats,  Bugges, , 
Chaffers,  Humble-Bees,  Wasps,  Grasshoppers,  and  in  a  good  year 

Caterpillars  in  abundance Gredartius  and   Swam- 

merdam  became  Eminent  for  this  Business".*^ 

King's  attitude  is  that  of  comedy;  he  exploits  the  scientific  in- 

s-"'  Ibid.  p.   304. 

saibid.  309. 
^  Miscellanies,  p.  309. 

38  Ibid.  p.   314. 

»»Ibid.  p.   334. 

«Ibid.  p.   326. 

"Ibid.  p.   326-7. 


158  THE    NEW    SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

terest  as  a  humor.  There  is,  however,  no  bitterness  in  his  at- 
tack. His  aim  is  to  raise  a  laugh,  and  he  does  it  at  the  expense 
of  the  worthy  and  the  unworthy.  One  looks  in  vain  for  any  seri- 
ous treatment  of  the  subject  in  his  work;  yet  there  is  a  single 
passage  in  the  Dialogues  of  the  Dead,  which  seems  to  contain  as 
definite  a  statement  of  King's  real  attitude  as  can  be  found.  "Con- 
sider further,  That  men  of  true  Learning  will  always  be  Honour 'd 
whilst  their  Mimicks  are  despised".*^ 

Of  the  same  character  as  King's  are  the  satires,  or  Amuse- 
ments, of  Thomas  Brown.  Apothecaries,  surgeons  and  physi- 
cians are  all  ridiculed  in  Amusement  X.  A  boy  has  swallowed  a 
knife  and  these  wise  men  have  met  in  consultation  as  to  the  best 
method  of  removing  it  from  his  stomach.  The  apothecaries  advise 
certain  quack  emetics;  the  surgeons  say  cut  him  open;  the  physi- 
cians suggest  an  effective  method  by  the  use  of  a  loadstone,  but 
too  indecent  to  explain.  Brown  does  not  hesitate  in  his  satire  to 
become  personal;  it  was  "my  particular  Friend  Dr.  W-dw-rd 
(Wood\vard)  who  first  mentioned  the  loadstone,  and  he  is  no  quack 
I  assure  you".*'^  There  is  also  a  satiric  comment  on  Lilly  and 
astrology;  Lilly  is  the  chief  "proficient  in  the  Celestial  Gim- 
cracks".  The  quackery  in  astrology  Brown  understood  full  well, 
and  has  here  given  it  the  kind  of  treatment  it  deserved. 

The  amplest  satire  on  the  virtuosi  occurs  where  Brown  arrives 
at  "The  Philosophical  or  Virtuosi  Country".  "This  Country  of 
Experimental  Philosophy  is  very  amusing,  and  their  Collections 
of  Rarities  exceeds  that  of  John  Trudusken  (Tradescant),  for  here 
are  Galls  of  Doves,  the  eye-teeth  of  flying  Toads,  the  eggs  of  Ants, 
and  the  eyes  of  Oysters.  Here  they  weigh  the  Air,  measure  heat, 
cold,  dryness,  and  humidity — great  discoveries  for  the  public  ad- 
vantage of  Mankind.  Without  giving  our  selves  the  trouble  of 
making  use  of  our  senses,  we  need  only  cast  our  eyes  upon  a  weather 
glass  to  know  if  'tis  hot  or  cold,  if  it  rains,  or  is  fair  weather".** 
In  this  country  the  "Contemplative  Gentlemen"  occupy  themselves 
"with  dissecting  atoms,  or  mites  in  cheese,  with  transfusing  blood 
from  an  Ass  to  an  astrological  quack,  from  a  sheep  into  a  bully,  or 

**  'hLiBceUaniea,  p.  314. 

«  Works,  vol.  Ill,  p.   100. 

**  Wks.  vol.  Ill,  A.mu8ement  X,  p.  94. 


THE   NEW  SCIENCE   AND   PROSE  159 

from  a  fish  into  an  exchange  woman".  They  are  continually 
''shewing  the  cud  of  Burnet's  Sacred  Theory",  or  quarreling  in- 
cessantly over  the  opposing  tlieories  of  Aristotle  and  Descartes, 
Cardan  and  Copernicus,  William  Penn  and  Christianity.  Acidists 
and  Alkalidists,  or  "putting  a  period  to  the  abstruse  debates  be- 
tween the  engineers  and  mouse-trap  makers  ".^^ 

The  satire  of  Brown  is  bright  and  keen.  As  usual  with  writers 
of  his  stamp,  he  makes  no  discrimination  between  pretense  and 
true  worth.  Lilly  and  Cooley  are  boldly  attacked  by  name  as  ex- 
ponents of  quackery  in  his  scornful  assault  on  astrology ;  but  there 
is  no  praise  for  the  splendid  work  of  Boyle,  Halley,  and  Newton 
among  the  virtuosi.  Brown  avoids  seriousness  and  generally  with 
success  hides  his  real  attitude  behind  the  mask  of  boisterous  laugh- 
ter. He  has,  however,  once  at  least  come  near  the  true  mark  and 
expressed  with  shrewdness  and  wit  the  secret  of  the  misunderstand- 
ing between  the  new  philosophers  and  the  men  about  town.  "The 
Vertuoso  despises  the  Rich  for  making  such  a  bustle  about  so  fool- 
ish and  pale-faced  a  metal  as  Gold.  The  Rich  laugh  at  Learning 
and  learned  Men,  and  cry,  A  Fig  for  Aristotle  and  Descartes"." 
Brown  saw  with  surprising  clearness  that  there  were  these  two 
points  of  view,  these  two  standards  of  value,  which  led  to  a  natural 
and  mutual  misunderstanding. 

Dean  S^^dft,  besides  his  efforts  to  defend  Sir  William  Temple 
against  the  ]\Ioderns,  found  other  occasions  to  scoff  at  the  new  phil- 
osophers. In  his  Art  of  Growing  Poor,  he  ridicules  those  foolish 
beliefs  that  were  clinging  like  parasites  to  the  new  science  and 
which  made  it  an  easy  prey  for  satirists, — "the  Philosophers'  Stone, 
and  Perpetual  Motion,  could  not  miss  being  among  the  principal 
Embellishments  of  this  work,  any  more  than  the  Art  of  Flying, 
which  set  so  many  of  the  Virtuoso 's  of  the  last  Age  upon  their  Tip- 
toes".*^ ]\Iathematical  calculations  applied  to  astronomy  are  ridi- 
culed in  A  Tnpos,  the  pretended  speech  assumed  to  have  been  de- 
livered at  the  Commencement,  University  of  Dublin,  July  11,  1688. 
The  virtuosi  ' '  aimed  at  here  are  Ashe  and  Molyneux  who  had  made 
so  much  of  a  predicted  eclipse  of  the  sun  in  the  Philosophical 

«Ibid.  p.   95. 

*«  TTA*.  Ill,  p.  83. 

"  See  A  New  Project. 


160  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

Transactions,  1684".  So  exactly  is  the  actual  moment  of  eclipse 
calculated,  "as  sure  as  a  gun",  that  the  virtuosi  arrange  their 
minutest  affairs  to  suit  the  coming  darkness.  In  the  conclusion 
to  the  piece  Swift  predicts  a  retaliation  upon  himself  for  his  stric- 
tures.    "The  virtuosi  will  set  their  brains  a- work  for  Gimcracks 

to  pull  my  eyes  out And  the  Astronomers  wont  allow 

me  one  good  star  nor  inform  me  when  the  sun  will  be  totally 
eclipsed,  that  I  may  provide  myself  with  candles".*^  In  the  Par- 
allel  a  virtuoso  is  to  get  a  reward  of  five  thousand  pounds  ' '  for  in- 
venting perpetual  motion".*^  As  mentioned  before,  Boyle's  Oc- 
casional Reflections  is  burlesqued  in  a  Meditation  on  a  Broom- 
stick.^'^ 

Swift's  severest  arraignment  of  the  new  science  is  to  be  found 
in  Gulliver's  travels.  Upon  the  arrival  of  the  traveller  among  the 
Brobdignagians,  he  finds  the  king  of  that  country  to  be  a  great 
mathematician,  who  has  dra^vn  around  him  a  company  of  phil- 
osophers. Gulliver  is  at  once  examined  by  these  learned  men  and 
classed  as  a  "lusus  naturae",  "a  determination  exactly  agreeable 
to  the  modern  philosophy  of  Europe,  whose  professors,  disdaining 
the  old  evasion  of  occult  causes  whereby  the  followers  of  Aristotle 
endeavoured  in  vain  to  disguise  their  ignorance,  have  invented  this 
wonderful  solution  of  all  difficulties,  to  the  unspeakable  advance- 
ment of  human  knowledge.  "^^  As  mementos  Gulliver  brings 
back  to  England  four  wasps'  stings,  three  of  which  he  gives  to 
Gresham  College.^-  The  general  comment  on  the  learning  of  these 
people  is  that  they  know  only  the  sensible  and  useful  things,  which 
among  the  virtuosi  would  be  little  esteemed.^^ 

The  inhabitants  of  Laputa,  or  the  Flying  Island,  are  greatly 
given  to  the  speculative  sciences.  With  them  everything  takes  form 
according  to  the  principles  of  mathematics  or  music;  they  believe 
in  judicial  astrology;  they  have  the  latest  "odd  notions",  regarding 
the  celestial  bodies, — such  as,  the  earth  approaches  the  sun,  the 

*8  4.   Tripos,  vol.  VI,   p.  242. 
*»  Wks.  vol.  VIII,  p.  209. 
Mlbid.  IX,  p.   120. 
"Ibid.  vol.  XI,  p.   127. 
°vol.  XI,  p.   134. 
Mvol.  XI,   p.   166. 


'  THE  JTEW  SCIENCE  AND  PROSE  161 

tail  of  a  comet  has  brushed  the  earth,  and  the  sun  is  losing  its 
heat.  The  motions  of  the  island  are  guided  by  means  of  a  great 
magnet  located  at  its  centre.  As  a  consequence  of  all  their  specu- 
lations these  people  are  ''dexterous  enough  upon  a  piece  of  paper", 
but  are  clumsy,  awkw^ard  and  unhandy  "in  the  common  actions 
and  behaviours  of  life".^*  At  the  "Grand  Academy  of  Lagado" 
are  found  the  projectors,  who  have  discovered  the  means  of  drawing 
sunbeams  out  of  cucumbers,  who  have  conceived  the  idea  of  plough- 
ing vnth  hogs  and  of  using  spiders  to  weave  silk,  who  write  books 
by  machinery  in  an  universal  language.  The  whole  passage, 
though  imitated  in  form  from  Eabelais,  has  for  its  substance  the 
recent  projects  of  the  Royal  Society. 

Swift  seemed  to  find  himself  a  misfit  among  the  new  ideas,  as 
elsewhere.  So  thoroughly  has  the  satiric  mood  colored  all  his 
thought,  so  successfully  does  he  screen  his  real  self  behind  ironical 
raillery,  that  one  is  never  sure  of  knowing  what  his  mind  truly  is. 
His  manner  of  dealing  with  the  new  science  is  well  expressed  in 
Gulliver's  Travels  (II),  where  Gulliver  finds  the  ladies  among  the 
Brobdignagians  so  ugly.  By  applying  a  magnifjdng  glass,  he 
says,  "the  smoothest  and  whitest  skins  look  rough,  and  coarse,  and 
ill-coloured".^^  SwiH  has  applied  his  satiric  magnifying  glass 
to  the  work  of  the  new  philosophers.  ' '  I  confess  I  value  the  opin- 
ion of  the  judicious  few",  he  has  written  in  what  appears  to  be  a 

serious  manner,  " but  for  the  rest,  to  give  my  judgment 

at  once,  I  think  the  long  dispute  among  the  philosophers  about  a 
vacuum,  may  be  determined  in  the  affirmative  that  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Critick's  head."^^  And,  again,  when  Glubbdrubdrib  has  called 
up  the  spirit  of  Artistotle,  that  philosopher  is  maae  io  say  of  the 
new  scientific  beliefs, — "New  systems  of  nature  were  but  new 
fashions,  which  would  vary  in  every  age ;  and  even  those  who  pre- 
tend to  demonstrate  them  from  mathematical  principles,  would 
flourish  but  a  short  period  of  time,  and  be  out  of  vogue  when  that 
was  determined  ".^^  In  his  defense  of  Temple,  he  pretended  to 
ridicule  only  the  absurdities  that  clung  to  the  new  science,  but  he 

"Swift's  Works,  vol.  XI,  p.   198. 

=6  Swift,  Wks.  vol.  XI,  p.   112. 

»>  A  Tritical  Essay,  vol.  IX,  pp.  128-9. 

^Gulliver's  Travels,   III,   vol.   XI,   p.   241. 


162  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

seems  at  last  to  have  found  it  practically  all  absurd.  A  splendid 
work  was  being  done  in  astronomy,  and  yet  to  Swift  it  amounted 
to  no  more  than  the  calculations  of  an  eclipse  to  avoid  eating  in 
the  dark.  Apparently  he  looked  upon  the  new  philosophy  with 
the  same  jaundiced  eyes  with  which  he  saw  the  affairs  of  church  and 
state  and  society. 

A  study  of  Swift  leads  directly  to  a  consideration  of  the  Mar- 
tinus  Scriblerus  Papers,  the  fragmentary  production  of  the  fam- 
ous Scriblerus  Club.  The  members  of  the  Club  were  Swift,  Pope, 
Arbuthnot,  Gay,  and  Parnell.^^  Their  design  was  "to  have  ridi- 
culed all  the  false  tastes  in  learning,  under  the  character  of  a  man 
of  Capacity  enough,  that  had  dipped  into  every  art  and  science, 
but  injudiciously  in  eacli".^''  With  such  a  purpose  before  them 
no  appreciation  of  the  good  points  can  be  expected.  The  inevitable 
injustice  of  satire  will  be  found; — namely,  the  exaggeration  of 
weaknesses  and  absurdities  and  the  suppression  of  good  qualities. 

The  problem  of  authorship  of  the  Scriblerus  Papers  has  never 
been  fully  resolved ;  it  seems  a  fair  position,  however,  to  assume  the 
work  a  collaboration.  The  wit  is  surely  the  combined  brilliance 
of  the  triumvirate,  Arbuthnot,  Swift,  and  Pope.  The  character 
of  Martinus  Scriblerus  himself,  attributed  to  Arbuthnot,  is  a 
comprehensive  travesty  on  the  philosophers.  Everything  about 
him, — parentage,  time  of  birth,  infantile  precocity, — foretells  his 
philosophic  greatness.  "This  day,  my  Friends",  says  the  proud 
father,  Cornelius  Scriblerus,  "I  purpose  to  exhibit  my  son  before 
you ;  a  child  not  wholly  unworthy  of  Inspection,  as  he  is  descended 
from  a  Race  of  Virtuosi ".®°  This  youth  quickly  becomes  a  pro- 
digy. He  is  trained  to  be  a  physician  and  exhibits  all  the  quackery 
of  medicine,*'^  and  all  the  wild  fancies  of  a  projector.^-  With  irre- 
pressible energy  he  "seeks  to  disprove  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  theory 
of  gravity  and  Mr.  Halley's  of  the  Variations".®^  "He  taught 
the  way  to  many  Modem  Physicians,  to  cure  by  Intuition,  and  to 

^Cf.  Aitken,   Life   of  Arbuthnot,  p.   56. 

B»Ibid.  p.  57. 

«o  Pope's   Wks.    vol.   VI,    p.    106. 

"Chap.  X. 

«Chap.  XIV. 

«Chap.   XIV,  p.   159. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  PROSE  163 

Others  to  cure  without  looking  on  tliem  at  all.  He  projected  a 
^lenstruum  to  dissolve  the  Stone  made  of  Dr.  Woodward's  Uni- 
versal Deluge  "Water.  His  w^as  also  the  device  to  relieve  consump- 
tive or  asthmatic  persons  by  bringing  fresh  air  out  of  the  Country 
to  To-s^Ti,  through  pipes  of  the  nature  of  the  Recipients  of  Air- 
Pumps"."*  Besides  all  this  he  had  discovered  a  quadrature  of  a 
circle,  the  cause  of  gravity,  a  vacuum,  "the  palpability  of  colours", 
"perpetuum  mobile",  a  flying  engine,  and  "how  much  the  in- 
habitants of  the  moon  eat  for  supper".  He  has  at  last  found  the 
correct  theory  of  the  deluge.  His  means  for  determining  the  longi- 
tude was  sufficiently  ingenious  to  make  him  famous;  i.  e.,  "to  build 
Two  Poles  to  the  IMeridian,  with  immense  Light-houses  on  the  top 
of  them;  to  supply  the  defect  of  nature,  and  to  make  the  Longi- 
tude as  easy  to  be  calculated  as  the  Latitude '  '."^ 

All  the  vagaries  of  the  new  science  are  here,  and  all  its  activi- 
ties are  turned  to  ridicule.  Discoveries,  inventions,  travels,  medi- 
cine, surgery, — whatever  entered  into  the  minds  of  the  virtuosi  is 
laughed  to  scorn.  True  tastes  suffer  with  the  false.  Martinus 
Scriblerus,  like  Sir  Nicholas  Gimcrack,  embodies  the  new  philoso- 
phic humor.  He  leaves  to  the  Royal  Society  "the  privilege  of 
catoptrical  cookery ' '  f^  he  visits  ' '  the  reverend  Mr.  Flamsteed,  who 
is  the  legal  officer  to  look  after  the  luminaries".^''  "Whatever  he 
judged  beneficial  to  mankind,  he  constantly  communicated  (not 
only  during  his  stay  among  us,  but  ever  since  his  absence)  by  some 
method  or  other  in  which  ostentation  had  no  part.  With  what 
incredible  modesty  he  concealed  himself,  is  knowTi  to  numbers  of 
those  to  whom  he  addressed  sometimes  Epistles,  Advice  to  Friends, 
Projects  of  First  Ministers,  Letters  to  Members  of  Parliament,  Ac- 
counts to  the  Royal  Society,  and  innumerable  others".*'®  Here 
again  is  an  exploitation  of  a  humor,  wherein  all  suffer  alike,  the 
good  and  the  bad,  the  wise  man  and  the  fool. 

Arbuthnot's  wit  found  attractive  material  in  the  new  phil- 
osophy.    There  is  a  burlesque  on  scientific  research  in  his  Learned 

**  Pope's  Works,  vol.  VI,   pp.   159-60. 

«Ibid.   vol.   VI,   p.    159. 

««  Swift's    Wks.    vol.    XVI,    p.    178. 

''Ibid.    179. 

«*  Pope's   Wks.   vol.  VI,  p.    161. 


164  THE   NEW   SCIENCE   AND   ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

Dissertation  on  a  Dumpling .^^  "I  received",  he  asserts,  "this 
part  of  the  history  of  pudding  from  old  Mr.  Lawrence  of  Wilsden 
Green,  the  greatest  Antiquary  of  the  present  Age".^°  The  ac- 
count that  follows  is  full  of  good  fun  and  is  free  from  all  bitter- 
ness. A  Letter  to  the  Students  of  both  Universities  is  a  scurrilous 
attack  on  modern  scientific  controversies.  All  kinds  of  study  are 
diseases  that  manifest  themselves  in  varying  forms.  One  interest 
develops  the  vapors,  perhaps,  and  produces  "a  deal  of  speculation 
upon  Circles,  and  the  squaring  of  Comets,  the  Courses  of  Heavenly 
Bodies,  Vortex's,  the  Longitude,  perpetual  Motion. "^^  "All  this 
show,  when  expressed  on  Paper,  still  betrays  its  original  to  be  mere 
Flatus,  Air,  Wind,  and  Vapour.""  The  Congress  of  the  Bees  is 
another  burlesque  on  the  reports  to  the  Royal  Society.  It  purports 
to  be  in  part  a  study  of  those  insects  made  by  Sir  John  IMande- 
ville,  found  recently  in  a  manuscript  preserved  at  Gresham  Col- 
lege. A  severe  and  unkindly  criticism  is  made  of  Dr.  Woodward 
in  The  Sickness  and  Death  of  Dr.  Woodivard,^^  and  the  Life  and 
Death  of  Don  Bilioso  de  L'EstofnacJ*  The  untenable  theories  of 
Woodward  are  attacked  in  A71  Examination  of  Dr.  Woodward's 
Account  of  the  Deluge''^  and  The  Longitude  Examin'd.'^^ 

All  of  the  satire  attributed  to  Arbuthnot,  with  the  exception  of 
The  Death  of  a  Late  Right  Reverend — (Gilbert  Burnet),  is  good- 
natured.  There  is  in  it  neither  the  bitter  irony  of  Swift  nor  the 
cruelty  of  Pope.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  author  was  himself  one 
of  the  new  philosophers,  a  physician  and  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Society.  He  even  presented  before  that  learned  body  a  serious 
discussion  of  Mathematical  Learning,  His  quarrel  with  Wood- 
ward, therefore,  was  one  of  theories  merely;  they  were  alike  in 
sympathy  with  the  new  philosophy.  But  Arbuthnot  saw  scientific 
interest  becoming  a  fad,  saw  untenable  theories  foisted  upon  it. 
"To  hunt  after  comets,  and  catch  them  by  the  tail ;  to  reform  the 

6»  Arbuthnot,   Wks.   vol.  I,   p.   59. 

'»  Ibid. 

■'ilbid.  vol.  II,  p.   109. 

"Ibid.  vol.   II,  pp.   10910. 

■"  Wks.   vol.   II,   p.   464. 

"Ibid.  p.   183. 

"Ibid.  p.   196. 

"» Wks.  vol.   II,   Supplement,   p.   66. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  PROSE  165 

Architecture  of  the  world;  and  make  Creation  look  a  little  more 
mathematical;  to  discover  the  Globe  of  Earth  to  be  only  a  large 
work  in  a  kind  of  pastry,  and  that  the  Crust  parting  by  Excess 
of  heat,  and  dropping  Piecemeal  into  the  Liquor  enclos'd,  oc- 
casion'd  the  Deluge;  and  that  the  Stars,  which  the  Vulgar  look 
upon,  as  so  many  Lights  hung  out  in  a  dark  Passage,  are  really 
so  many  populous  Countries,  containing  some  Millions  of  Acres  in 
Terra  Firma, — are  the  most  ingenious  Amusements  in  the 
"World  ".'^  It  was  this  making  an  amusement  only  out  of  scientific 
research  which  he  desired  to  satirize.  But  he  was  possessed  of 
the  spirit  of  wit,  so  that  whatever  he  wrote  was  sharp  and  keen. 
And  yet  at  bottom  he  was  sensible  and  tolerant,  "the  wisest,  wit- 
tiest, most  sensible  man  of  his  age". 

More  satirical  exploitation  awaited  the  new  science  on  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  famous  periodicals  of  the  early  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. The  Tatler  has  devoted  several  papers  to  this  humor.  Num- 
ber 119,  for  instance,  deals  mth  the  new  discoveries  of  the  micro- 
scope. It  seems  to  be  at  the  beginning  a  true  appreciation  of  the 
work  of  the  investigators,  but  soon  the  whole  interest  is  turned  in- 
to ridicule  by  a  subtle  irony.  These  glasses  have  revealed  a  new 
world,  have  "opened  a  new  and  inexhaustible  Magazine  of  Rarities, 
more  wonderful  and  amazing  than  any  of  those  which  astonished 
our  forefathers."  "There  is  not  the  least  particle  of  matter  which 
may  not  furnish  one  of  us  employment  for  a  whole  eternity". 
Daily  great  crowds  flock  to  witness  the  dissection  of  a  mite  or  to 
see  the  skeleton  of  a  flea.  No  longer  can  the  "opening  of  a  dog,  to 
observe  the  circulation  of  the  blood"  astonish,  since  it  is  possible 
to  be  "present  at  the  cutting  of  one  of  those  little  animals  which 
we  find  in  the  blue  of  plums".  As  in  satiric  verse,  the  contempt 
for  those  men  who  spend  their  time  with  contemptible  vermin  of 
nature  finds  expression  here. 

The  point  of  the  criticism  is  made  clearer  in  Tatler  216.  "I 
would  not  discourage  any  searches  that  are  made  into  the  most 
minute  and  trivial  parts  of  Creation.  However,  since  the  world 
abounds  in  the  noblest  fields  of  speculation,  it  is  methinks,  the 
mark  of  a  little  genius  to  be  wholly  conversant  among  insects,  rep- 

"Arbnthnot's  TVks.  vol.   II,   p.   109. 


166  THE    NEW   SCIENCE   AND   ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

tiles,  animalcules,  and  those  trifling  rarities  that  furnish  out  the 
apartment  of  a  virtuoso".  Here  is  the  gist  of  The  Tatler's  at- 
titude; to  dig  in  the  muck  when  the  heavens  offer  so  much  better 
and  nobler  objects  for  contemplation  convicts  a  man  of  meanness, 
makes  him  a  fit  subject  for  satire.  And  such  a  man  is  Sir  Nicholas 
Gimcrack,  who  has  stepped  out  of  Shadwell's  The  Virtuoso  into 
the  pages  of  Tlie  Tatler.  But  he  has  fallen  into  a  mortal  sickness 
and  on  his  deathbed  has  made  his  will,  which  is  here  appended. 
"I,  Nicholas  Gimcrack,  being  in  sound  health  of  mind,  but  in 
great  weakness  of  body,  do  by  this  my  last  will  and  testament  be- 
stow my  worldly  Goods  and  Chattels  in  the  manner  follo-^ing; 
Imprimis.  To  my  daughter  Elizabeth,  my  Receipt  for  preserving 
dead  Caterpillars.  Also  my  preparation  of  winter  may  dew,  and 
embryo-pickle. 

Item.  To  my  little  daughter  Fanny,  three  Crockodile  's  eggs.  And 
upon  the  birth  of  her  first  Child,  if  she  marries  with  her  mother's 
consent,  the  nest  of  a  Humming-Bird. 

Item.  To  my  eldest  Brother,  as  an  acknowledgement  for  the  lands 
he  has  vested  in  my  son  Charles,  I  bequeath  my  last  year's  collec- 
tion of  Grasshoppers. 

Item.  To  his  Daughter,  Susanna,  being  his  only  Child,  I  bequeath 
my  English  Weeds  pasted  on  Royal  paper,  with  my  large  Folio 
of  Indian  Cabbage.  Having  fully  provided  for  my  nephew  Isaac  by 
making  over  to  him  some  j^ears  since,  a  horned  Scarabaeus,  the 
skin  of  a  rattlesnake,  and  the  mummy  of  an  Egyptian  King,  I 
make  no  further  Provision  for  him  in  my  Will. 

My  eldest  son  John,  having  spoken  disrespectfully  of  his  little 
Sister,  whom  I  keep  by  me  in  Spirits  of  Wine,  and  in  many  other 
instances  behaved  himself  undutifully  toward  me,  I  do  disinherit 
and  wholly  cut  off  from  any  part  of  this  my  personal  estate,  by  giv- 
ing him  a  cockle  shell. 

To  my  second  son  Charles,  I  give  and  bequeath  all  my  Flowers, 
Plants,  Minerals,  Mosses,  Shells,  Pebbles,  Fossils,  Beetles,  Butter- 
flies, Caterpillars,  Grasshoppers" — ."^ 

A  few  days  later  appeared  a  letter  to  The  Tatler  from  Lady 
Gimcrack,  newly  made  a  widow.'^     She  is  grateful  for  the  mention 

"T/ie    Tatler,    Number    216. 
^•Ibid.    Number    221. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE   AND  PROSE  167 

of  her  lamented  husband  in  the  pages  of  The  Tatler,  and  relates 
briefly  how  the  symptoms  of  this  strange  scientific  humor,  which 
possessed  him  so  completely,  first  manifested  themselves.  Sir 
Nicholas  bought  a  microscope,  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society,  and  never  afterwards  talked  in  a  manner  that  other  people 
could  understand.  Not  even  the  members  of  his  own  household 
could  understand  him.  He  was  wont  to  wander  about  with  his 
pockets  full  of  moss  and  pebbles,  and  once  ran  five  miles  in  the 
chase  of  an  "odd-colored  butterfly".  In  his  very  last  moments, 
he  remembered  a  flea  which  he  had  kept  imprisoned  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  observations,  and  in  imitation  of  the  ancient 
Romans  who  freed  their  slaves  with  their  dying  breath,  he  asked 
that  it  might  be  given  its  liberty.  He  was  ever  more  industrious 
"to  improve  his  mind  than  his  estate." 

This  was  the  same  kind  of  virtuoso  who  was  reported  to  have 
been  set  the  task  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II  to  people  Ireland  with 
frogs.®"  He  caught  one,  and  started  out  with  it  in  a  boat,  but 
found  it  grew  faint  and  seasick  with  the  first  breath  from  those 
shores.  By  waiting  until  the  "\Annd  blew  from  the  open  sea,  the 
virtuoso  managed  to  land  with  his  precious  charge.  It  soon  ex- 
pired, however,  after  touching  Irish  soil. 

Why,  one  is  inclined  to  ask,  is  there  no  appreciation  of  the 
good  work  done  by  the  virtuosi?  Why  all  this  burlesque  on  the 
absurdities  of  the  new  movement  ?  The  time  was  not  yet  come  for 
commendation,  but  it  was  near  at  hand.  Addison,  who  wrote  these 
Tatler  papers  on  the  new  science,  had  a  lesson  to  teach,  a  folly  to 
correct.  Here  is  the  point  he  has  been  emphasizing  all  the  time, —  ^ 
"There  is  no  study  more  becoming  a  rational  creature  than  that  of 
natural  Philosophy;  but,  as  several  of  our  modern  virtuosi  man- 
age it,  their  speculations  do  not  so  much  tend  to  open  and  enlarge 
the  mind,  as  to  contract  and  fix  it  upon  trifles"."  When  this 
point  has  been  pressed  home  to  his  satisfaction,  he  will  turn,  as  did 
the  pious  poets,  to  those  nobler  aspects  of  the  new  interest. 

The  Spectator,  also,  must  have  its  fling  at  the  new  philosophy. 
Physicians,  says  Addison  in  Spectator  21,  have  "taken  to  amusing 
themselves  wdth  the  stifling  of  cats  in  an  air-pump,  cutting  up 

^  The  Tatler,  Number  236. 
« Ibid. 


168  THE   NEW  SCIENCE  AND  ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

dogs  alive,  or  impaling  insects  upon  the  point  of  a  needle  for 
microscopical  investigations;  besides  those  that  are  employed  in 
the  gathering  of  weeds  and  the  chase  of  butterflies ;  not  to  mention 
the  cockle-shell  merchants  and  spider-catchers".  The  works  of 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  occupy  a  place  beside  the  French  romances  on 
the  shelves  in  the  library  of  the  learned  lady.^^  The  evil  effect 
which  the  new  science  may  have  upon  the  minds  of  young  women 
is  explained  in  a  letter  from  a  man  who  has  two  nieces  deeply  im- 
bued with  the  virtuoso  spirit.  These  two  young  women  talk  of 
"the  magnetical  virtue  of  the  loadstone  rather  than  the  best  way 
to  make  a  sack-posset";  they  scorn  to  express  themselves  in  other 
than  Latin  derivatives;  and,  finally,  they  will  not  let  their  uncle 
"smoke  one  pipe  in  the  quiet"  of  ignorance.®^  With  the  appear- 
ance of  seriousness  The  Spectator  suggests  that  a  fitting  employ- 
ment for  the  Royal  Society  would  be  a  new  natural  history.**  It 
is  claimed,  however,  that  these  papers  have  usurped  the  original 
purpose  of  the  new  scientific  interest;  namely,  "to  draw  men's 
minds  off  from  the  bitterness  of  party  ".^^ 

But  in  spite  of  the  "Chymist's  jargon",  the  quacks  and  charla- 
tans in  medicine,  and  the  useless  studies  of  insects,  The  Spectator 
finds  much  to  admire  in  the  new  philosophy.  Bacon,  Boyle,  and 
Newton  are  mentioned  with  praise,*®  and  the  new  "theories  of  the 
earth  and  the  heavens"  have  "gratified  and  enlarged  the  imagina- 
tion".*^ The  studies  in  anatomy  have  revealed  how  "fearfully  and 
wonderfully  the  human  frame  is  made".**  Addison  caught  a 
glimpse  of  that  new  and  revolutionizing  idea  of  the  new  science, 
that  the  earth  is  a  mere  speck  in  space,  that  man  is  but  "an  atom 
of  this  atom  world".  "In  the  same  manner,  when  I  considered  that 
,  infinite  host  of  stars,  or,  to  speak  philosophically,  of  suns,  which 
i  were  then  shining  upon  me,  with  those  innumerable  sets  of  planets 
or  worlds,  which  were  moving  around  their  respective  suns ;  when 
I  still  enlarged  the  idea,  and  supposed  another  heaven  of  suns,  and 

®  The  Spectator,   Number   54. 

®Ibid.    242. 

**  Ibid.   121. 

»Ibid.   262. 

»The  Spectator,   554    (Hughes),   543    (Addison). 

"Ibid.    420    (Addison). 

«8Ibid.   543    (Addison). 


THE   NEW  SCIENCE   AND   PROSE  169 

worlds  rising  still  above  this  which  we  discovered,  and  these  still 
enlightened  by  a  superior  firmament  of  luminaries,  wliich  are 
planted  at  so  great  a  distance,  that  they  may  appear  to  the  in- 
habitants of  the  former  as  the  stars  do  to  us :  In  short,  whilst  I 
pursued  this  thought,  I  could  not  but  reflect  on  the  little  insignifi- 
cant figure  which  I  myself  bore  amidst  the  immensity  of  God's 
works.  Hugenius  carries  this  thought  so  far,  that  he  does  not 
think  it  impossible  there  may  be  stars  whose  light  is  not  yet 
travelled  down  to  us,  since  their  first  creation  ".*'^ 

The  Guardian  is  for  the  most  part  an  echo  of  the  ridicule  in 
The  Tatler  and  The  Spectator.  Jack  Lizard  returns  from  the  uni- 
versity a  philosophical  pedant.^*'  The  wild  schemes  of  Whiston  and 
Ditton  for  finding  the  longitude,^^  Wilkins's  art  of  flying,^-  and 
the  observations  of  the  habits  of  insects"^  are  satirized  in  a  good- 
natured  fashion.  Berkeley  has  written  an  amusing  travesty  on 
the  Cartesian  theory  that  ''the  soul  of  man  stands  tiptoe  on  the 
pineal  gland".®*  Steele  has  given  with  considerable  detail  the 
character  of  a  virtuoso  who  is  piqued  because  his  merits  are  not 
honored. 

"Sir, — I  am  a  very  great  scholar,  wear  a  fair  wig,  and 
have  an  immense  number  of  books  curiously  bound  and  gilt. 
I  excel  in  a  singularity  of  diction  and  manners,  and  visit 
persons  of  the  first  quality.  In  fine,  I  have  by  me  a  great 
quantity  of  cockle-shells,  which,  however,  does  not  defend 
me  from  the  insults  of  another  learned  man,  who  neglects 
me  in  a  most  insupportable  manner ;  for  I  have  it  from  per- 
sons of  undoubted  veracity,  that  he  presumed  once  to  pass 
by  my  door  without  waiting  upon  me.  Whether  this  be 
consistent  with  the  respect  which  we  learned  men  ought  to 
have  for  each  other,  I  leave  to  your  judgement,  and  am.  Sir, 
Your  affectionate  friend, 

Philautus.''®^ 

wibid.  565. 

"•'  The  Guardian,  Number  24. 

«Ibid.  107. 

"Ibid.  112. 

"Ibid.  156. 

Mlbid.  35. 

»»Ibid.  95. 


170  TITE    NEW   SCIENCE   AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

On  the  whole,  the  treatment  of  the  new  science  in  these  papers 
is  good-natured  and  kindly.  The  sharpest  ridicule  is  directed 
against  the  foolish  passion  for  dissection,  for  collecting  rarities, 
and  for  studying  the  habits  of  insects.  It  is  held  that  an  absorb- 
ing interest  in  these  despicable  creatures  of  nature  is  an  evidence 
of  a  "narrow  genius",  that  such  an  interest  dwarfs  the  mind  in- 
stead of  enlarging  it,  and  that  no  results  for  the  benefit  of  man- 
kind can  come  from  such  a  pursuit.  "Studies  of  this  nature 
should  be  the  diversions,  relaxation,  and  amusements,  not  the  care, 
business,  and  concern  of  life".  The  pretenders  to  learning,  both 
male  and  female,  are  exposed;  where  "terms  are  three-fourths  of 
the  business"  there  can  be  no  sound  learning.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  possibilities  in  the  new  philosophy  are  perceived.  The  great 
discoveries  are  stimulating  and  inspiring;  the  minds  of  men  are 
broadened  by  the  work  of  Boyle,  Huygenius,  and  Newton.  To  Ad- 
dison, in  particular,  it  was  given  to  see  the  enlarged  Horizon  in 
the  heavens  above  and  the  new  world  of  minutiae  on  the  earth  be- 
neath. The  satire  on  the  new  science  in  The  Tatler,  The  Spectator 
\and  The  Guardian  is  as  fair  as  satire  can  be  made,  which  dilates 
upon  the  weaknesses  and  absurdities  of  a  movement  and  passes 
over  in  silence  the  strong  points.  There  is  everywhere  evidence 
of  discrimination;  commonsense  and  reason  were  sitting  in  the 
judgment-seat. 

In  the  work  of  Daniel  Defoe  th^re  is  practically  no  new  science. 
His  type  of  mind  no  doubt  naturally  revolted  from  the  "wary  and 
circumspect ' '  attitude  of  the  investigators ;  he  desired  to  be  untram- 
melled by  the  bonds  of  truth.  His  world  was  the  world  of  fiction 
where  cleverness  ruled  and  Avhere  there  was  no  commandment, 
"Thou  shalt  not  lie".  The  temperament  of  such  a  man  would 
keep  him  from  any  appreciation  of  the  Baconian  philosophy.  And 
it  is  found  that  he  touches  only  incidentally  upon  certain  phases, 
such  as  the  method  Dr.  John  Wallis  proposed  for  "teaching  the 
deaf  and  dumb  to  speak ",^^  the  idea  of  "second  sight"  as  defended 
by  Joseph  Glanvil,"  the  medical  practice  of  Dr.  Radcliffe,^^  and 
the  belief  in  apparitions.^^     The  desire  for  novelty,  of  which  it 

»»  Cf.  Duncan  Campbell. 

^  Duncan  Campbell,  chap.  V. 

98  Ibid.   chap.  VI. 

•*  The  Invisible   World  Disclosed,  chap.  V ;   The  History  of  Magic. 


THE   NEW  SCIENCE   AND   PROSE  171 

must  be  confessed  some  scientists  were  guilty,  is  satirized  by  him 
in  his  Miscellaneous  Wi'itiugs.^^'^  He  has  given,  indeed,  to  the 
character  of  Robinson  Crusoe  the  inventive  genius  of  a  virtuoso, 
but  he  was  doubtless  wholly  unconscious  of  the  connection  with  the 
new  science.  On  the  whole,  his  attitude  is  so  obscure  and  his  use 
of  the  new  material  is  so  slight  that  he  may  be  convicted  of  in- 
difference,— an  indifference  innate  and  temperamental. 

The  London  Spy,  after  the  manner  of  William  King,  makes  a 
journey  to  London  and  reports  in  detail  what  he  sees  there.  In- 
evitably he  comes  upon  the  virtuosi  in  his  wanderings.  To  this 
Spy  the  scientist  is  "a  Whimsie-headed  Humorist ",^°^  busied  with 
a  study  of  the  weather-glass  and  the  philosopher's  stone.  He 
spends  his  days  in  a  laboratory  filled  with  such  "rarities"  as  a 
magnet,  shells,  flies,  a  unicorn's  horn,  an  aviary  of  dead  birds, 
serpents,  together  with  other  "  Rusty-reliques  and  Philosophical 
Toys"."^  The  routine  of  his  life  has  been  reduced  to  a  mechanical 
precision;  he  rises,  dines,  and  sleeps  by  the  tick  of  the  clock.^"^ 
''He's  a  wonderful  Antiquary,  and  has  a  closet  of  Curiosities  out- 
does Gresham  Colledge"."*  Nearly  all  of  these  curiosities  have 
become  familiar  through  previous  satire.  The  list  includes  a 
"toothpicker  of  Epicurus",  Diogenes 's  Lanthorn,  the  claws  of  an 
American  Humming-bird,  Heraclitus's  tears  frozen  to  a  crystal, 
and  a  tenpenny  nail  out  of  the  Ark.^"^  In  the  judgment  of  the 
Spy,  the  virtuoso  is  not  distinguishable  from  those  men  who  dwell 

in  that  "Madman's  Colledge",  Bedlam.     "That  man 

that  Avalks  like  a  Mercury,"  he  says  of  a  lunatic,  "as  if  he  had 
wings  to  his  Heels,  is  a  Topping  Virtuoso,  and  a  Member  of  the 
Royal  Society  "."« 

There  is  nothing  new  in  this  representation  of  the  new  science. 
It  may  be  seen  at  a  glance  that  here  again  is  the  unjust,  undiscrim- 

'"o  Of .  Life  and  Recently  Discovered  Writings,  1716-29,  William  Lee,  vol.  II, 
p.  43,   44,  etc. 

!«  The  London  Spy,  I,  p.   12. 

i^Ibid.  II,  p.   60. 

lo^Ibid.  II,   p.   13. 

iM  Itid. 

^<*rfte  London  Spy,   II,  p.   13. 

i»«Il3id.   Ill,  p.   61. 


172  THE    NEW   SCIENCE   AND   ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

inating  satire  of  comedy.  Ward,  in  The  London  Spy,  simply  car- 
ries on  the  manner  of  attack  of  King,  Brown,  and  the  famous 
periodicals.  He  makes  a  clever  use  of  new  details,  but  the  atti- 
tude is  the  same;  it  is  an  exploitation  of  the  scientific  humor. 

In  this  manner  was  the  new  science  attacked  in  prose.  The 
source  of  material  and  the  manner  of  treatment  are  practically  the 
same  as  that  of  satirical  comedy.  These  satirists  were  quick  to 
catch  the  flotsam  and  jetsam  of  scientific  knowledge  and  cleverly 
transformed  it  into  a  ridiculous  burlesque.  The  Philosophical 
Transactions  and  the  scientific  publications  were  the  most  common 
sources.  Arbuthnot,  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  furnished 
facts  and  "jargon"  for  the  Scriblerus  Club.  The  absurd  theories 
of  Woodward,  who  was  so  generally  unpopular,  were  made  the 
butt  of  many  an  attack.  Radcliffe,  with  his  eccentricities,  was 
likewise  a  good  target  for  satiric  shafts.  From  Brown  to  Ward 
the  tone  is  little  varied ;  w^ritten  primarily  to  amuse  the  prose 
deals  usually  in  a  goodnatured  manner  with  the  new  interest. 
The  fiercest  assaults  are  to  be  found  in  Gullivers'  Travels  and  the 
Scriblerus  Papers.  In  the  latter,  however,  the  humane  feeling 
and  essentially  kindly  spirit  of  Arbuthnot  seem  to  have  softened 
and  tempered  the  fiercer  moods  of  his  friends.  The  boisterous 
burlesque  in  Brown's  Dialogues,  King's  Journey  to  London,  The 
Tatter,  and  The  London  Spy,  is  close  akin  to  the  representation 
in  verse  satire  and  comedy,  but  with  something  more  of  discrimina- 
tion in  it.  "To  make  jests,  to  live  and  move  in  the  ludicrous,  to 
find  fun  in  everything  under  heaven  and  over  hell"  was  the  busi- 
ness of  these  writers.  If  the  jests  become  serious  in  Swift  and 
the  laughter  unpleasant,  they  are  counterbalanced  by  the  conspicu- 
ous kindliness  of  Addison.  The  latter,  indeed,  gave  to  The  Spec- 
tator a  general  attitude  that  was  fair  and  generous,  and  once  rose 
to  an  eloquent  burst  of  enthusiasm  inspired  by  the  visions  of  the 
extended  horizon  of  the  new  astronomy. 

Ill 

Wlien  one  turns  to  find  a  continued  appreciation  of  the  new 
philosophy  or  a  reaction  from  the  satiric  attitude,  in  the  first  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  he  meets  with  disappointment.  "Dur- 
ing the  last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century  a  spirited  effort 


THE   NEW  SCIENCE   AND   PROSE  173 

was  made  to  clironicle  the  new  observations  of  science  in  the  best 
literary  form  of  the  age,  but  it  could  not  be  sustained  ".^"^  The 
splendid  imagination  of  Burnet,  awakened  by  the  recent  Cartesian 
speculations,  had  caught  new  visions  of  beauty,  to  which  he  gave 
expression  in  passages  of  literary  eloquence.  His  Sacred  Theory 
became  the  centre  of  a  theological  storm  whose  mutterings  did  not 
entirely  die  away  for  forty  years.^"®  From  him  leads  a  most  allur- 
ing trail  into  the  land  of  speculative  theology  where  dwell  Bentley, 
Clarke,  Butler,  and  Mandeville.  These  men  were  ''occupied  with 
an  intense  and  eager  curiosity  by  speculation  on  the  first  principles 
of  natural  religion ",^°^  striving  to  harmonize  the  "painful  dis- 
cord" between  reason  and  revelation.  "The  scientific  frontier  be- 
tween reason  and  revelation  is  in  the  hottest  of  the  melee,  and  the 
deists,  extending  the  claims  of  reason,  say  or  insinuate  that  the 
results  tell  against  the  Church  articles.  The  apologists  like  Clarke 
and  Bentley  try  to  prove  the  being  of  God  either  a  prion,  or  from 
the  world  as  understood  by  the  new  science  "."°  However  alluring 
this  path,  it  is  certainly  a  digression  from  the  plan  of  study  of  this 
work.  And  there  is  a  second  way  from  the  Sacred  Theory, 
taken  by  the  virtuosi  themselves,  which  leads  through  Ray's  Wis- 
dom of  God,  Whiston's  New  Theory,  and  the  polemical  work  of 
Keil.  The  first  two  have  have  been  treated,  and  the  last  has  no 
claim  to  literary  merit.  It  may  be  seen,  therefore,  that  in  the 
early  years  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  were  bounds  set  to 
certain  fields  of  speculation;  (1)  Locke  had  clearly  discriminated 
between  the  subject-matter  of  human  philosophy  and  the  problems 
of  natural  philosophy,  (2)  the  new  science,  breaking  the  yoke  of 
ecclesiastical  authority,  had  asserted  "the  freedom  of  the  scien- 
tific intellect",  (3)  the  problems  of  sociology,  political  economy, 
and  history,  were  distinguished  from  the  investigations  of  natural 
science.  Each  field  of  intellectual  endeavor,  thus  specialized, 
yielded  its  own  harvest  of  books. 

Natural  science  was  continued  through  these  years  with  inde- 
fatigable energy,  but  no  great  new  discoveries  were  made.     There- 

'""  Gosse,   Edmund,    History   of   18th    Century   Literature,   p.    375. 

"8  Supra,   chap.  II. 

><*  Elton,  Oliver,  The  Augustan  Ages,  p.  269. 

""Ibid.  p.  270. 


174  THE    NEW   SCIENCE    AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

fore,  while  the  new  ideas  of  the  late  seventeenth  century  were  furn- 
ishing inspiration  and  imagery  to  certain  pious  poets,  the  new  phil- 
osophy in  prose  filled  "a  class  of  books  which  cannot  be  called 
literature".  Its  direct  expression  is  to  be  found  in  such  books 
as  Desaguliers 's  A  Course  of  Experimental  Philosophy,  Stephen 
Gray's  Experiments  in  Electricity,  and  the  volumes  of  the  Philo- 
sophical Transactions.  But  in  these  books  "the  graces  were  tacitly 
and  gradually  excluded  from  all  treatment  of  purely  utilitarian 
problems  and  exact  observations,  and  this  exclusion  divided  the 
vast  body  of  what  was  written  into  literature  and  non-litera- 
ture'V" 

The  human  philosophers,  with  the  exception  of  Shaftesbury, 
however  much  they  may  have  been  subtly  influenced  by  the  scien- 
tific method  and  discovery,  established  their  attitude  by  casual 
reference.  "I  deny  not",  says  Locke  in  his  Essay  on  Human 
Understanding,  "but,  a  man,  accustomed  to  rational  and  regular 
experiments,  shall  be  able  to  see  farther  into  the  nature  of  bodies, 
and  guess  righter  at  their  yet  unknown  properties,  than  one  thai 
is  a  stranger  to  them ;  but  yet,  as  I  have  said,  this  is  but  judgment 
and  opinion,  not  knowledge  and  certainty.  The  way  of  getting 
and  improving  our  knowledge  in  substances  only  by  experiences 
and  history,  which  is  all  that  the  weakness  of  our  faculties  in  this 
state  of  mediocrity  we  are  in  in  this  world  can  attain  to,  makes 
me  suspect  that  natural  philosophy  is  not  capable  of  being  made  a 
science"."^  And  then  he  adds,  in  the  manner  of  an  apology, — 
"I  would  not  therefore,  be  thought  to  disesteem  or  dissuade  the 
study  of  nature.""^  To  the  Idealist,  Berkeley,  the  search  for  na- 
tural causes  is  misdirected  effort.  "It  is  the  searching  after  and 
endeavoring  to  understand  this  Language  (if  I  may  so  call  it)  of 
the  Author  of  Nature,  that  ought  to  be  the  employment  of  the 
natural  philosopher;  and  not  the  pretending  to  explain  things  by 
corporeal  Causes,  which  doctrine  seems  to  have  too  much  estranged 
the  minds  of  men  from  the  Active  Principle,  that  Sunreme  and 
"Wise  Spirit  'in  whom  Ave  live,  move,  and  have  our  being'  "."* 

*"  Ctosse,  Edmund,   History  of  18th  Century  Literature,  p.   376. 

^  Essay,  Bk.   IV,  chap.   12,   p.   423. 

"a  Ibid.   p.   424. 

^*  Principles,  Sects.  65,   66. 


THE   NEW  SCIENCE  AND  PROSE  175 

In  the  Characteristics  of  Shaftesbury,  however,  there  is  an 
interesting  idealization  of  the  virtuoso.  ''Every  man",  he  as- 
serts, "is  a  virtuoso,  of  a  higher  or  lower  degree ".^^^  He  then 
proceeds  to  point  out  that  the  danger  in  this  interest  lies  in  "fall- 
ing in  love  with  rarity  for  rareness'  sake".  The  men  wlio  do  this, 
he  admits,  are  deserving  of  the  ridicule  which  they  receive  ;^^^  but 
there  is  a  study  worth  the  pursuing.  ' '  I  am  persuaded  that  to  be  a 
Virtuoso  (so  far  as  befits  a  Gentleman)  is  a  higher  step  toward 
becoming  a  Man  of  Virtue  and  good  sense,  than  the  being  what 
in  this  Age  we  call  a  Scholar "."''  There  is,  furthermore,  no  ground 
for  prejudice  against  the  new  philosophy,  for  it  does  not  contain 
anything  to  bias  a  man's  mind  in  the  study  of  other  problems.^^^ 
After  this  defense  there  comes  a  passage  in  which  the  broadened 
horizon  has  stimulated  the  imagination  of  this  philosopher;  the 
"diocentric  idea",  Avhich  John  Locke  received  from  the  new  astron- 
omy, has  dawned  upon  him  also.  "Yet  is  this  Mansion-Globe,  this 
]\Ian-Container,  of  a  much  narrower  compass  even  than  its  other 
fellow  Wanderers  of  our  system.  How  narrow  then  must  it  ap- 
pear, compar'd  with  the  spacious  system  of  its  own  Sun?  And 
how  narrow,  or  as  nothing,  in  respect  of  those  innumerable  systems 
of  other  apparent  suns?"^^^  The  Newtonian  discoveries  concerning 
light  also  inspired  him  to  write  that  rather  eloquent  passage  be- 
ginning,— "But  wither  shall  we  trace  the  sources  of  light?  or  in 
what  Ocean  comprehend  the  luminous  matter  so  wide  diffus'd 
thro'  the  immense  spaces  which  it  fills ?""^ 

There  was  in  this  philosopher  a  sensible  and  a  genuine  apprecia- 
tion of  the  new  science.  He  saw  clearly  the  abuses  of  pretenders 
to  learning  and  felt  that  the  satire  on  them  was  fully  merited ;  but 
he  saw  also  its  nobler  aspects  and  himself  caught  some  of  the  zeal 
of  discovery.  His  mind  was  drawn  into  speculative  philosophy 
rather  than  experimental  science,  and  yet  this  ' '  Virtuoso  of  Human- 
ity" was  broad-minded  enough  to  commend  the  excellent  service 
the  experimenters  were  performing. 

"'  Characteristics,  vol.  I,  p.   138. 

"•Ibid.   II,   253. 

"■f  Characteristics,  I,  p.   290. 

"8  Ibid.   A   Rhapsody.   II,   p.    373. 

""Ibid.   p.   379. 


176  THE    NEW   SCIENCE   AND   ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

There  is  no  further  representation  of  the  new  science  in  the 
prose  literature  of  the  period.  A  few  echoes  of  the  deistic  con- 
troversy were  still  faintly  reverberating,  in  which  spiteful  allu- 
sions were  made  indirectly  to  the  new  scientific  knowledge  of  na- 
ture. But  Joseph  Butler's  Analogy  (1736)  had  taken  all  the 
point  out  of,  if  it  had  not  really  ended,  that  dispute  which  was 
ever  only  remotely  connected  with  the  new  science.^-"  A  single 
illustration  will  serve  to  show  the  type  of  criticism  and  will  indicate 
also  the  general  attitude  of  indifference  toward  scientific  investi- 
gations. "The  zeal  for  this  sort  of  Gibberish  (science)",  wrote 
Julius  Bates  sarcastically  (1774),  "is  greatly  abated  of  late,  and 
tho'  it  is  now  upwards  of  twenty  years  that  the  Dagon  of  Modern 
Philosophers,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  has  lain  with  his  face  upon  the 

ground  before  the  Ark  of  God,  Scripture  Philosophy 

yet  there  is  not  one  of  the  whole  society  who  hath  the  courage  to 
attempt  to  raise  him  up.     And  so  let  him  lye".^-^ 

It  is  a  striking  literary  phenomenon  that  the  scientific  dis- 
coveries produced  no  great  masterpiece.  Several  reasons  for  this 
fact  readily  suggest  themselves ;  the  zest  of  discovery  had  doubtless 
somewhat  abated  in  the  early  years  of  the  eighteenth  century,  cer- 
tainly experiments  had  lost  much  of  their  novelty,  and  literary  prose 
was  more  and  more  occupied  with  other  things,  such  as  satiric  and 
journalistic  essays,  human  philosophy,  theology,  and  the  novel.^-- 
Perhaps  the  most  potent  reason  of  all  is  the  fact  that  no  great  new 
discoveries  came  to  reward  the  scientific  labors.  Natural  science 
came  gradually  to  be  accepted  as  a  legitimate  field  for  intellectual 
activity  and  ceased  to  call  attention  to  itself.  That  satiric  ex- 
ploitation of  it  was  passing  away  is  a  good  indication  of  its  rise 
into  a  position  of  dignity  and  honor.  Dr.  Johnson  accepts  the 
new  science  as  a  matter  of  course  and  evinces  some  surprise  at 
the  earlier  attitude.  "Some  verse  in  the  last  collection,  shew  him 
(Butler)  to  have  been  among  those  who  ridiculed  the  institution  of 
the  Royal  Society,  of  w^hich  the  enemies  were  for  some  time  very 
numerous  and  very  acrimonious;  for  what  reason  is  hard  to  con- 
ceive, since  the  philosophers  professed  not  to  advance  doctrines  but 

"o  Cf.   The  Boyle  Lectures  of  Bentley  and  Clarke. 

'"  Bates,  Julius,   The  Philosophical  Principles  of  Moses  Asserted,  p.  2. 

^^  Gosse,   Edmund,   History  of  18th  Century  Literature ,  p.   378. 


THE  NEW  SCIENCE  AND  PROSE  177 

to  produce  facts;  and  the  most  zealous  enemy  of  innovation  must 
admit  the  gradual  progress  of  experience,  however  he  may  oppose 
hypothetical  temerity".^-'' 

In  the  death  of  Ne\vton  the  new  science  sustained  an  irreparable 
loss.  When  the  stimulation  of  his  work  and  the  inspiration  of  his 
personality  were  gone,  there  succeeded  a  period  barren  of  dis- 
coveries. Desaguliers  inight  popularize  the  new  ideas,  but  he 
could  not  produce  new  discoveries ;  antiquarianism  became  a  gentle- 
man's  diversion  and  relaxation;  Hauksbee  and  Stephen  Gray  were 
only  preparing  the  way  for  Franklin's  brilliant  work.  The  scien- 
tists were  standing  between  two  periods,  one  of  a  past  great  achieve- 
ment and  the  other  yet  to  dawn. 

1^  Johnson's  Lives,  I,  p.  208,  Butler.  Cf.  also  his  attitude  as  expressed  in  his 
Life  of  Boerhave. 


CHAPTER  VI 
Conclusion 

The  assigned  task  is  now  finished.  The  new  science  has  been 
characterized,  its  activities  have  been  traced  briefly  along  the 
various  lines  of  interest,  and  its  contributions  of  new  ideas  to 
English  thought  have  been  summarized.  The  struggle  of  these 
new  ideas  with  the  "ancient  faith",  with  an  outworn  poetic 
imagery,  with  the  claims  of  pseudo-science,  with  the  power  of 
scholastic  authority,  and  with  the  credulity  of  superstition,  has 
been  presented,  in  so  far  as  it  found  literary  expression.  An  ex- 
ploitation of  this  new  interest  as  a  humor  that  filled  the  minds  of 
men  and  women  with  foolish  whimsies  was  discovered  in  the  satiric 
comedies.  In  verse,  the  new  philosophy  fell  into  the  grasp  of  the 
satirists,  whose  treatment  much  resembled  that  of  comedy;  but, 
later,  certain  poets  were  led  through  a  sense  of  piety  to  find  the 
extended  horizon  of  the  new  astronomy,  while  others  began  to  look 
upon  external  nature,  like  the  virtuosi,  with  the  M'ondering  eyes 
of  children.  In  prose,  there  was  an  early  and  enthusiastic  literary 
expression  of  the  new  discoveries  by  the  scientists  themselves,  that 
soon  lost  its  vigor.  Satire  took  its  place,  that,  like  comedy,  exag- 
gerated the  absurdities  of  the  new  interest.  Gradually  the  in- 
quiries of  natural  science  were  differentiated  from  speculative  phil- 
osophy and  theology;  science  developed  a  literature  of  its  owti 
wherein  ' '  the  graces  were  tacitly  excluded  ".  "  An  age  of  scientific 
discovery  till  then  unexampled  passed  away  without  enriching 
literature  by  a  single  classic",^  but  natural  science  made  for  itself 
a  place  of  dignity  and  respect  among  the  other  branches  of  human 
thought. 

The  new  science  was  found  to  be  a  new  intellectual  impulse 
that  set  men  at  work  reconstructing  the  natural  history  of  the 
world  by  means  of  experiment  and  observation.  Attention  was 
thereby  called  to  the  objective  forms  of  nature  and  interest  was 
centered  upon  the  affairs  of  secular  life.  The  day  of  specialization 
was  dawning;  the  new  philosophers,  who  began,  like  Bacon,  with 
the  whole  province  of  human  knowledge,  steadily  narrowed  their 

>  Gariiett,    Richard,    The   Age    of  Dryden,   p.    266. 


CONCLUSION  179 

field  of  investigation  to  the  connotation  of  the  modern  term, 
natural  science.  Even  this  circumscribed  interest  was  broken  up 
into  specialized  studies,  such  as  botany,  chemistry,  mathematics, 
physics,  physiology,  etc.  Investigations  were  carried  on  by  the 
active  members  of  the  Royal  Society  with  great  energy,  and  a  re- 
ward of  their  efforts  in  startling  and  revolutionizing  discoveries 
came  quickly  and  abundantly  through  the  last  quarter  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  giving  place  in  the  eighteenth  to  a  continued,  but 
scantily  repaid,  experimental  activity  which  prepared  the  way  for 
the  work  of  Franklin  in  Electricity,  Priestley  in  Chemistry,  and 
Alexander  Smith  in  Geology.  A  world  of  minutiae  was  revealed 
by  the  microscope,  and  through  the  telescope  came  ocular  proof  of 
the  Copernican  theory.  Man  became  "an  insignificant  atom  of  an 
atom- world".  ]\Iathematies  demonstrated  the  law  of  gravitation; 
Physics  gave  a  new  interest  to  the  atmosphere,  to  light,  color,  heat ; 
Botany  made  men  to  see  with  an  awakened  curiosity  the  flowers 
and  the  beasts  of  the  field;  Physiology  discovered  the  wonderful 
framework  of  the  human  body;  a  study  of  "rarities"  led  to  an- 
tiquarian research,  to  which  were  related  an  interest  in  history 
and  an  investigation  of  geographical  and  geological  problems. 
Thus  were  these  new  scientists  entering  * '  the  wonderland  of  modem 
science". 

'As  the  light  of  these  new  discoveries  came  flooding  in,  the  old 
hypotheses  did  not  fall  without  noise. '  It  was  a  transitional  period. 
The  point  of  view  of  men  was  sometimes  radically  changed,  as  in 
the  case  of  Sir  Thomas  Browne;  new  poetic  imagery  struggled 
with  the  out-worn  and  conventional  for  expression  in  Cowley, 
Denham,  Waller,  and  others ;  Milton  stood  in  doubt  before  the  new 
ideas  and  finally  evaded  the  whole  issue;  Dryden,  engrossed  with 
the  affairs  of  men,  shifting  his  allegiance  like  changes  of  raiment, 
was  practically  unaffected  by  the  new  intellectual  impulse.  Thom- 
as Sprat  first  lifted  his  voice  in  defense  of  the  Royal  Society  against 
the  opposition  of  churchmen  and  "Wits  and  Railleurs",  which 
lasted  through  the  period.  "The  shock  of  that  collision  is  far 
from  having  spent  its  effect  even  in  our  own  day".^  Sharp  con- 
flicts centered  in  the  work  of  Glanvil,  in  Burnet's  Sacred  Theory, 
and  in  Smft's  Tale  of  the  Tub,  Battle  of  the  Books,  and  Partridge 

'Courthope,  W.  J.,  History  of  English  Poetry,  vol.  Ill,  p.   168. 


180  THE    NEW   SCIENCE   AND   ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

Papers.  The  new  philosophy  made  headway,  however,  against  all 
opposition,  and  one  by  one  "cast  down  the  old  idols  of  prejudice, 
superstition,  and  ancient  authority ;  it  gave  a  few  new  images  to  the 
transition  poets,  and  to  Milton  and  Burnet  a  new  conception  of 
the  illimitable  expanse  of  the  universe. 

Satiric  comedy  exploited  the  new  interest  as  a  humor,  after 
the  manner  of  Ben  Jonson.  First  touched  upon  in  Shackerley 
Marmion's  The  Antiquary  (1641),  it  was  developed  by  Shadwell 
into  that  arch-type  of  the  virtuoso.  Sir  Nicholas  Gimcrack  {The 
Virtuoso,  1667).  The  exploitation  continued  through  Durfey, 
Aphra  Behn,  Mrs.  Centlivre,  Colley  Gibber,  and  others,  ending  so 
far  as  this  study  is  concerned  with  the  anonymous  State  of  Physich 
(1642).  Wlierever  the  new  scientist  appears  in  comedy,  with  a 
single  exception  (Dr.  Easy,  The  State  of  Physick),  he  receives  the 
merited  contempt  of  all  men,  because  he  is  a  pedantic  "fool",  en- 
gaged in  the  pursuit  of  useless  knowledge.  "I  believe,"  said  Snarl, 
the  cynic,  "if  the  Blood  of  an  Ass  were  transfus'd  into  a  virtuoso, 
you  would  not  be  able  to  know  the  Emittent  Ass  from  the  Recipi- 
ent Philosopher,  by  the  Mass".^  This  is  the  consensus  of  satiric 
opinion.  The  virtuoso  was  never  generally  distinguished  from  the 
quack  doctor  and  the  astrologer;  remnants  of  the  occult  sciences 
still  clung  to  him,  such  as  alchemy,  the  Rosicrucian  mysteries,  and 
astrology.  The  severest  censure  was  based  upon  the  scientist 's 
waste  of  money  in  buying  scientific  apparatus  and  "rarities",  and 
in  pursuing  studies  that  could  never  benefit  himself  or  anyone 
else, — in  "studjdng  not  his  country's  good  but  her  insects".  That 
this  satire  was  generally  unmerited  and  unjust  has  been  made 
sufficiently  clear.  Doubtless  there  were  pedants  in  plenty,  as 
there  ever  are,  but  neither  the  great  men  nor  their  great  achieve- 
ments were  appreciated  by  the  writers  of  comedy.  The  virtuoso 
never  invented  anything  so  useful  as  a  mouse-trap,  said  the  satir- 
ists; yet  the  air-pump,  the  thermometer,  the  microscope,  the  im- 
proved telescope,  the  barometer,  and  the  steam-engine  came  out 
of  this  period.  A  bricklayer  is  worth  forty  philosophers,  averred 
the  satirists;  yet  Hooke,  Boyle,  Ray,  Willughby,  Grew,  Mayow, 
Lower,  Sydenham,  Sloane,  Newton,  to  say  nothing  of  the  foreigners 
closely  associated  with  the  new  interest,  as  Leeuwenhoek,  Malpighi, 

» Shadwell's   The   Virtuoso,   Act   II. 


CONCLUSION  181 

Boerhave,  lived  at  this  time.  Tlie  inevitable  injustice  of  satire 
is  here, — the  exaggeration  of  weaknesses,  the  omission  of  virtues. 

The  satiric  poets,  from  the  sullen  and  morose  Butler  to  the 
"Wasp  of  Twickenham",  took  their  fling  at  the  new  philosophy. 
In  their  verse  there  is  the  same  exploitation,  the  same  lack  of  dis- 
crimination, the  same  desire  "to  make  their  readers  sport  whether 
the  persons  exposed  deserve  it  or  not",  as  in  comedy.  In  Butler 
there  is  bitterness ;  in  Pope  there  is  a  temperamental  ' '  painful  dis- 
cord"; in  the  rest  there  is  rude  and  boisterous  laughter.  But 
piety  led  Prior,  Blackmore,  Savage,  Brooke,  and  Young  into  an 
appreciation  of  the  new  astronomy;  the  loftiest  verse  outside  of 
Milton's  was  directly  inspired  by  the  "new  heaven  of  the  telescope". 
To  the  Thomsonian  poets,  influenced  by  the  new  interest  of  science, 
it  was  given  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  a  new  world  in  external  nature. 
"They  walked  in  nature  as  in  a  garden,  and  tasted  of  its  plenty". 
In  them  was  begun  that  process  of  harmonizing  imagination  and 
the  scientific  spirit  for  which  Wordsworth  preached,  when  ' '  Science 
should  become  the  handmaid  of  Literature".  The  infinite  variety 
of  "imaginations  and  similitudes",  which  the  too  optimistic  Sprat 
had  prophesied,  did  not  come  to  them,  but  they  did  gain  in  imagery, 
in  inspiration,  and,  perhaps  more  than  can  be  calculated,  in  atti- 
tude and  spirit;  for  "there  first  awoke  in  them  the  general  idea 
of  the  importance  of  an  objective  attitude  to  nature  and  of  the 
new  use  of  systematic  experiment".^ 

In  the  prose  treatment  of  the  new  science  there  are  three  fairly 
distinct  phases ;  first,  an  early  appreciation  during  the  last  forty 
years  of  the  seventeenth  century,  secondly,  a  satiric  exploitation 
extending  from  Eachard  to  the  London  Spy,  thirdly,  an  incidental 
representation  in  the  human  philosophers  and  a  direct,  non-literary 
exposition  from  the  virtuosi  themselves.  Flushed  with  the  zeal  of 
discovery,  the  new  philosophers  "made  a  spirited  effort  to  chronicle 
the  new  observations  in  the  best  literary  form  of  the  age".  The  at- 
tempt fell  gradually  away  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, but  meanwhile  there  was  developed  a  prose  ideal,  a  "clear, 
naked  style,  approaching  mathematical  plainness",  whose  "virtues 
spread  and  wrought  with  the  instinct  of  conversation  and  social 
amenity,  and  with  the  love  of  argument  and  pleading  and  oratory, 

*  Cambridge   History   of  English   Literature,   vol.    IV,   p.   328. 


182  THE    NEW    SCIENCE   AND   ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

to  form  modem  style  ".^  There  is  a  contagious  enthusiasm  in  much 
that  they  wrote,  from  the  earlier  men  like  Wilkins,  through  Evelyn, 
Boyle,  Hooke,  and  Newton.  But  there  was  no  literary  genius 
among  the  virtuosi  directly  inspired  of  the  new  science ;  their  work 
had  a  permanent  effect  on  English  thought,  but  not  on  English 
literature.  Even  Newton,  with  his  ' '  brooding  mind,  took  no  thought 
for  literary  expression".  Then,  once  again,  the  new  science  was 
"exposed"  by  satire,  in  those  exceedingly  clever  attacks  in  prose. 
Eachard,  the  schoolmaster.  King,  Brown,  Swift,  the  Scriblerus 
Club,  conjointly,  Arbuthnot,  The  Tatler,  The  Spectator,  The  Guard- 
ian, Defoe,  and  The  London  Spy,  all  launched  satiric  darts  at  the 
new  philosophy.  It  was  another  exploitation  of  a  humor,  with 
more  discrimination,  to  be  sure,  than  comedy  and  verse  possessed. 
The  tone  throughout  is  little  varied;  the  raillery  is  good-natured, 
except  in  SAvift;  the  fairness  and  candid  good-sense  of  The  Tatler 
and  The  Spectator  are  remarkable.  In  the  last  mentioned  peri- 
odicals the  absurdities  of  the  new  interest  are  fairly  characterized, 
and  the  great  men  and  their  splendid  achievements  find  some  ap- 
preciation. Addison,  in  particular,  had  caught  the  vision  of  "the 
heavens  of  the  new  astronomy".  There  is  no  re-action  in  this 
period  to  counterbalance  the  satire.  Locke  ^and  Berkeley  only 
touch  upon  the  new  science  in  the  midst  of  a  hundred  other  in- 
terests; the  deistie  controversy,  which  found  its  culmination  in 
Butler's  Analogy,  drew  from  the  new  experiments  the  new  con- 
ception of  the  physical  universe;  Shaftesbury,  alone,  among  the 
human  philosophers  and  theologians,  gave  an  appreciative  expres- 
sion to  the  new  philosophy  in  his  idealization  of  the  virtuoso. 
Further  than  this,  the  new  science  received  a  direct  exposition  in 
a  non-literary  style  of  its  own,  and  separating  itself  from  history, 
theology,  human  philosophy,  and  classical  learning,  took  its  honor- 
able place  among  the  other  branches  of  human  thought. 

Here  the  investigation  stops,  though  the  literary  phenomenon 
is  not  complete.  With  the  passing  away  of  Pope,  however,  there 
ended  a  satiric,  inappreciative  attitude;  at  that  time,  too,  natural 
science  ceased  to  be  on  the  defensive,  and  the  movement  toward 
the  literary  use  of  the  results  of  experiments  and  observations  had 
begun.     The  new  intellectual  impulse  had  entered  the  minds  of 

"Elton,    Oliver,    The   Axtgustan   Ages,   p.    420. 


CONCLUSION  1 83 

men  with  its  transforming  and  quickening  power,  and  was  de- 
veloping its  subtle  relationship  with  realism.  Poets  had  begun  to 
learn  that  "observation  and  experience  are  the  ballast  needed  to 
give  imagination  steadiness"."  The  effects  of  the  scientific  ideas 
were  longer  in  making  themselves  felt  than  those  of  the  classical 
renaissance,  because  "national  characteristics  are  never  so  strongly 
marked  in  science  and  philosophy  as  in  other  branches  of  litera- 
ture".'' The  "painful  discord"  was  not  yet  wholly  harmonized;  as, 
indeed,  it  can  never  be.  There  is  always  a  discord  that  is  temper- 
amental and  irradicable.  Lowell  said,  with  Yankee  shrewdness  and 
wit,  that  "the  more  she  (Science)  makes  one  lobe  of  our  brain 
Aristotelian,  so  much  the  more  will  the  other  intrigue  for  an  in- 
vitation to  the  banquet  of  Plato  ".^  Edgar  Allan  Poe  is  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  point,  in  whom  imagination,  desiring  to  be  free,  picks 
a  half-whimsical  quarrel  with  the  demand  of  science  for  matters 
of  fact. — 

"Science!  true  daughter  of  old  Time  thou  art! 
Who  alterest  all  things  with  thy  peering  eyes. 
Why  preyest  thou  upon  the  poet's  heart. 
Vulture,  whose  wings  are  dull  realities? 
How  should  he  love  thee?  or  how  deem  thee  wise? 
To  seek  for  treasure  in  the  jewelled  skies. 
Albeit  he  soared  with  an  undaunted  Aving? 
Hast  thou  not  dragged  Diana  from  her  car? 
And  driven  the  Hamadryad  from  the  wood 
To  seek  shelter  in  some  happier  star? 
Hast  thou  not  torn  the  naiad  from  her  flood. 
The  Elfin  from  the  green  grass,  and  from  me, 
The   summer   dream  beneath   the    tamarind   tree?"® 

Audience  may  be  given  to  voices  of  three  men  of  literary  genius 
from  the  nineteenth  century,  on  the  relationship  between  litera- 
ture and  science.  In  his  Preface  to  the  Lyrical  Ballads,  1815, 
Wordsw^orth  wrote : — ' '  The  knowledge  both  of  the  Poet  and  the 
Man  of  science  is  pleasure ;  but  the  knowledge  of  the  one  cleaves  to 

'Neilson,  W.  A.  The  Essentials  of  Poetry,  p.  137. 
''Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature,  vol.   IV,  p.   308. 
^Latest  Literary  Essays,  p.   183. 
*  Sonnet,  To  Science. 


184  THE    NEW   SCIENCE   AND   ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

US  as  a  necessary  part  of  our  existence,  our  natural  and  inalienable 
inheritance ;  the  other  is  a  personal  and  individual  acquisition,  slow 
to  come  to  us,  and  by  no  habitual  and  direct  sympathy  connecting 
us  with  our  fellow-beings.  The  Man  of  Science  seeks  truth  as  a 
remote  and  unknown  benefactor,  he  cherishes  it  and  loves  it  in 
solitude;  the  Poet,  singing  a  song  in  which  all  human  beings  join 
with  him,  rejoices  in  the  presence  of  truth  as  our  visible  friend  and 
hourly  companion.  Poetry  is  the  breath  and  finer  spirit  of  all 
knowledge ;  it  is  the  impassioned  expression  which  is  in  the  counte- 
nance of  all  science Poetry  is  the  first  and  last  of  all 

knowledge — it  is  as  immortal  as  the  heart  of  man.  If  the  labours 
of  the  Men  of  Science  should  ever  create  any  material  revolution, 
direct  or  indirect,  in  our  condition,  and  the  impressions  which  we 
habitually  receive,  the  Poet  will  sleep  then  no  more  than  at  pres- 
ent ;  he  will  be  ready  to  follow  the  steps  of  the  Man  of  Science,  not 
only  in  those  general  indirect  effects,  but  he  will  be  at  his  side, 
carrying  sensation  into  the  midst  of  the  objects  of  the  science  it- 
self. The  remotest  discoveries  of  the  Chemist,  the  Botanist,  or 
the  Mineralogist,  will  be  as  proper  objects  of  the  Poet's  art  as  any 
upon  which  it  can  be  employed,  if  the  time  should  ever  come  when 
these  things  shall  be  familiar  to  us,  and  the  relations  under  which 
they  are  contemplated  by  the  followers  of  these  respective  sciences 
shall  be  manifestly  and  palpably  material  to  us  as  enjoying  and 
suffering  beings.  If  the  time  should  ever  come  when  what  is  now 
called  science,  thus  familiarized  to  men,  shall  be  ready  to  put  on, 
as  it  were,  a  form  of  flesh  and  blood,  the  Poet  will  lend  his  divine 
spirit  to  aid  the  transfiguration  and  will  welcome  the  Being  thus 
produced,  as  a  dear  and  genuine  inmate  of  the  household  of  man.  "^° 
Tennyson,  writing  out  of  a  period  strikingly  similar  in  some 
respects  to  the  Restoration  in  that  new  scientific  discoveries  were 
revolutionizing  human  thought,  asked  of  himself  and  of  all  poets, — 
"Is  this 

A  time  to  sicken  and  swoon. 

When  Science  reaches  forth  her  arms 

To  feel  from  world  to  world,  and  charms 

Her  secret  from  the  latest  moon?"" 

*"  Wordsworth,   Prefnce  to  Lijrical  Ballads,  1815;   of.  also  The  Prehide. 
^  Tennyson,    In   Memoriam. 


CONCLUSION  185 

And,  finally,  in  the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when 
natural  science  had  come  more  fully  into  her  own  and  "humane 
letters"  were  on  the  defensive,  Matthew  Arnold  said  in  reply  to 
Huxley, — "But  how,  finally,  are  poetry  and  eloquence  to  exercise 
the  power  of  relating  the  modern  results  of  natural  science  to 
man's  instinct  for  conduct,  his  instinct  for  beauty?  And  here 
again  I  answer  that  I  do  not  know  how  they  will  exercise  it,  but 
that  they  can  and  will  exercise  it,  I  am  sure."^^ 

It  seems  reasonable  to  believe  that  human  thought  will  continue 
to  progress  by  this  same  process  of  discovery,  opposition,  and  re- 
conciliation. If  the  literary  mind  cherishes  the  old  idols,  clings 
to  the  ancient  faith  after  they  are  diso\\Tied  by  the  philosophers, 
it  will  certainly  at  last  "lend  its  divine  spirit  to  aid  in  the  trans- 
figuration and  will  welcome  the  new  truths  into  the  household  of 
man". 

^Discourses  in  America,  Lit.  and  Science. 


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or  on  the  date  to  which  renewed.  Renewals  only: 

Tel.  No.  642-3405 
Renewals  may  be  made  4  days  ijrior  to  date  due. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 

REC'DLD4UGb    71-UAM^? 

SAM  DiEGO 

INTERLISRARY  I  PAN 


^^v  1 6  isrs 


IKt^ 


I 


r. 


riFCe    1976 


LD21A-50m-2,'71 
(P200.1sl0)476 — A-32 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


LD9-20m-7, 


^D  n?69 


■%->i    \^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


m- 


